Stepping into the Light
by theICEBear
Summary: Final installment of the ‘The Darkness and The Light’ series. Xena and Gabrielle are returning to their old haunts. But all is not well in their relationship. Can they work out their differences in time to stop a rebellion?
1. Prologue

Stepping into the Light  
6th and final part of The Darkness and The Light series  
By Mikael Helbo Kjaer  
Email: the@icebear.dk  
Website:   
  
Disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle and all other original characters portrayed in the TV show Xena, Warrior Princess are the exclusive property of Renaissance Pictures, Studios USA and Universal Television. No infringement is intended by this piece of fiction. The story is however the exclusive property of the above mentioned author. This story can be freely copied and distributed online under the condition that any website or list informs the author about the posting or the author approaches the website or list with the story for posting. The story and this note must be presented unedited except for any HTML added for presentation purposes. All other situations must be negotiated with the author as named above. No commercial gain must come from the usage of this story.  
  
Setting: Post FIN  
  
Sexual references: GEN (with subtext)  
  
Violence: This story contains scenes with and descriptions of intense violence  
  
Rating: PG-15  
  
Summary: 6th and final installment of the series 'The Darkness and The Light'. Xena and Gabrielle are returning to their old haunts. But all is not well in their relationship. Both have changed in ways the other cannot understand. Can they work out their differences before the countryside explodes in a rebellion?  
  
Prologue:  
  
"So were you really dead?" Xena looked over at Gabrielle, who rode on her left side.  
  
"Nope you still lead in the having-been-really-dead contest," she answered and smiled with her entire nose wrinkling with happiness. Gabrielle was amazed that it had taken this long for them to begin talking to each other. They had been on their way home for nearly a month. Amphipolis was a little over a week away and Xena had only just now begun opening up to her. They hadn't really begun burrowing into the heavy stuff about Xena's death yet, but yesterday had been a grand day of storytelling for both of them. Maybe she needed to push the envelope. Maybe a little directness was needed.  
  
"Xena," she turned her head and looked at her black haired partner, "Is there something wrong between us? I keep feeling like there is some kind of barrier between us. You can tell me about the terrible things you've gone through, but I can't get a straight answer out of you, when I ask why you demanded that you alone fight raiders like those we met yesterday." Gabrielle hoped that the depth of her emotions, that the seriousness of her question came across in her tone and expression.  
  
Xena looked at her for a moment and blinked. Gabrielle saw a deep sadness and some other emotions flash across Xena's eyes the only part of her expression that ever really showed her true emotions.  
  
"Don't you trust me anymore?" Gabrielle implored.  
  
After taking a shuddering breath Xena explained, "No, that's not it. I. I love you Gabrielle. But you've changed so much since you set out from Poteidaia all those years ago. I just wanted protect you a little from the violence. You've been at war for several years now and I thought that you needed a break."  
  
Gabrielle wrinkled her brow for a moment. "We have been through this too many times already Xena. I have chosen this path in life. It has nothing to do with your presence either. My way in life is that of the protector. And the fighting is a part of that," she explained.  
  
"How can that be?" Xena said while her eyes locked its intense gaze on Gabrielle's face. "You have a good and compassionate heart Gabrielle. How can the fighting be a part of your life if it hurts your heart and soul? I can take that pain on my shoulders now. You don't need to fight. I can do it for you," she suggested and pure intent shone on her face.  
  
"Now you listen to me Warrior Princess! You might be the greatest warrior that has ever been, but that doesn't mean that you can fight my battles for me. I am the only one who chooses my path in life and I am going to walk it until the day my life ends," Gabrielle felt a resentment rise in her that had been brewing for ages. She had many times in her past asked herself, if she had exchanged one set of patronizing parents for another albeit more famous one. All those memories of times, when Xena had left her behind, ignored her opinion and seen things in a perspective that mean that she was right and Gabrielle was wrong, burst forth in her mind. It was only the happiness of being with her soul mate that kept her temper from exploding right there.  
  
Xena had seen the anger flashing in her eyes and bit back her next comment. It would take a while before she opened up to her again. "Way to go battling bard," she thought and gazed out over the familiar wilderness. They had headed towards Greece for a while now, following the Silk Road which took trade from the Far East to the Persians and further to the Roman Empire.  
  
"I don't understand what makes you think that you should follow this path of the protector. I remember all the times you stopped me from stupidly fighting my way out of every situation. You were Eli's first disciple. You were strong enough not to exact vengeance on the man that had your parents killed," Xena said unexpectedly.  
  
Gabrielle had to keep herself from staring in surprise at the warrior princess. Xena had changed a lot more over the years that her behavior up until now had shown, if she was suddenly willing to analyze her like that.  
  
"I spent a lot of time thinking about my past these last few years and although it may sound strange I think I was still learning my way around Xena. I have seen and done more things in my short life than most people see or do in an entire life and a lot of it influenced me deeply. I spent years just reacting to the world that my life with you exposed me to. But when I was at the monastery and later in the short breaks between battles I spent a lot of time thinking about how I had reacted to it all and the reasons to why I have become like I am now," she turned slightly in her saddle and looked over at Xena, who was also looking at her expecting an answer.  
  
"Ever since I heard of heroes and the terrible things that stalk the innocents of the world I have dreamt of helping people. I wanted to protect them, to heal them and to make everything better with a sweet story. But those were the dreams of a child and young girl not of a grown woman. I thought that I could make everything better just by being nice and talking. But there are people out there that aren't nice that won't be swayed by words and noble gestures. Those people that are consciously evil and the men that follow them won't allow peace in this world without being forced. You, Eli, Ares, Hercules and all our adventures together have shown me that I should seek a peaceful solution, but when that option runs out. Then it is time to take up weapons and make sure no more innocent people are hurt," Gabrielle said.  
  
"I decided long ago to be a hero at least that was my wish when I left home. But I didn't think I could and so I resolved to at least ensure that a true hero like you were seen as you should be. Now I realize that I can be a hero too at times and that heroes are just humans with a good heart and a strong will. I have seen everything I've done in my life in hindsight and I was always trying to protect someone. Even some of the times when I was wrong," she explained hoping that Xena would understand better now, why she no longer felt heartache over being a warrior or why she had reconciled herself with both her past and present.  
  
"I understand," Xena said and Gabrielle saw in her eyes that the realization of Gabrielle's change had sunk in. In time Xena's brilliant mind would digest this information.  
  
"Did you know that we are on an even standing now?" Xena asked as they rode towards the afternoon sun.  
  
"What do you mean?" Gabrielle asked curiously.  
  
"I never got to be a general for an army the size of the one you commanded in Chin. And I never spent that long a time being successful as a general either," Xena said.  
  
"Xena, who are you trying to kid here? I was an officer under Sun Wu. You ran armies for nearly a decade until Hercules stopped you. There is no comparison there," Gabrielle said and shook her head slightly.  
  
"Well then explain to me why the fact that I ran army of a couple of hundred, while you ran divisions of thousands, doesn't make you and I comparable. But that wasn't the point I was trying to make. Sometimes you astound me though. You just don't realize your own worth. Your men loved you, mine feared and hated me. Gabrielle you were so loved that an entire nation will remember you for years to come. You're a living legend in Chin now. Yes, Sun ran the campaign, but it is you that everyone remembers. The Little Dragon rose to save Chin from Temudjin," Xena quoted what some celebrating villagers had chanted as they left Chin.  
  
Gabrielle knew that Xena left unsaid that she was a living legend from both good and evil. Even now over 30 years after her reign of terror there were small regions of the world where people started holidays by thanking their gods that they had survived her attack. In a few generations that would be forgotten and they would both be consigned to history's fickle attentions. "Alright I don't think you're entirely right, and if I am a good commander it is because you taught me well. Could we not talk about that anymore," she said, hoping to end this thread of conversation before she got more embarrassed by the praise of her friend.  
  
"I am worried about you," Xena suddenly said.  
  
"What? Don't be so cryptic, it is not like I am in any danger right now," Gabrielle replied and smiled.  
  
"No you're not in danger right now. But look at the lives we lead. I have died Gabrielle. Multiple times now I have been killed and once you even died with me. We shouldn't be doing this anymore. It's not like you have to prove anything," Xena said in a cautious voice that Gabrielle knew only came out at those rare times when Xena was exposing something from deep inside the depth of her soul.  
  
"It is not about proving anything. I believe in the Greater Good Xena. I know that it like everything else should never be seen as an unbending rule to which to measure every act we make, but honestly I can't go through my life anymore and let bad things happen around me without doing something about it. Neither could you," Gabrielle explained.  
  
She didn't hear Xena's mumbled response, "I am not so sure anymore."  
  
They rode on in silence for a few candlemarks. "Xena, what is the plan after we get to Amphipolis?" Gabrielle asked.  
  
"Honestly I don't know," Xena replied.  
  
"Really," Gabrielle looked at Xena in surprise. Usually they had some place to rush off to or something planned for the future, but when she thought about it there were no crisis around that they needed to get involved in and they had so few friends left that there were not really enough of them around to stir up trouble for them. Furthermore Xena's crimes were so far in the past that no one really looked for her anymore or it didn't matter anymore. Only Ares and Aphrodite were left of the Olympian gods to cause trouble. Gabrielle suddenly realized that it had been years since she had seen either of them. She even considered one of the two a good friend.  
  
"Maybe we could settle down in Amphipolis for a while. You know rest a little. Help out in the Hospice that kind of thing," Xena suggested with no hint of the sigh Gabrielle had expected to come at the end of her sentence.  
  
"Yes, maybe we could. I need to go see Lila and Sarah, since I am in the neighborhood. I promised I would," she said wincing slightly at the thought of again having to explain why she had been gone for such a long time. "What about after we've done that? I've."  
  
"I don't know. Let's not plan that far ahead," Xena suggested.  
  
Gabrielle still at bit rusty at reading her partner's intentions after being separated from her for three years didn't hear the tone in her friend's voice that should have told her that Xena did in fact have plans that she didn't want to share just yet.  
  
"We should think about finding a campsite," Gabrielle commented and thought back.  
  
"Yeah," Xena replied and also became thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"However about that place up by that sea just south of here, where you taught me to catch fish with my hands," Gabrielle suggested.  
  
"Nah it takes to long to get back to a proper road from there. How about that small cliff plateau with the spring half a candlemark northwest? You know the place where we camped out, when Lao Ma's note." Xena asked.  
  
"It isn't a dry spot any more. I was through here when I was heading out with my Amazons to avoid a Roman army to the South and I came by there. The spring is a small lake now and the best camp site is flooded. But I do recall a large campsite set up for caravans going in either direction. It's over a candlemark to the West of here, it should be just fine for our needs and is on our way," Gabrielle suggested.  
  
"Alright I'll take it. I'm looking forward to a hot meal. How do you feel about rabbit stew?" Xena asked with a beatific smile.  
  
"Sounds fine," Gabrielle replied and smiled radiantly. She had Ghost pick up speed a little. Xena and Nike followed suit.  
  
"You know I've really missed you," Xena said and reached out to caress Gabrielle's chin.  
  
Gabrielle even with the gait of their horses managed to reach up and hold her hand over Xena's. "How do you think I felt then?" She answered back and blushed slightly. After a moment their hands reached back to the reins of their horses and they rode on, while the sun began getting slightly red tones in its light.  
  
They rode on for a while, when suddenly Gabrielle stopped Ghost. Xena stopped as well and looked back at her in bewilderment. "Can you hear that?" She asked with a look of concentration in her eyes. Gabrielle heard the sound of the forest and brush around them, but not too far ahead the sounds of nature had given a way to a kind of expectant silence. A silence as if nature held its breath, a silence that in her experience preceded the acts of mankind often violent acts at that.  
  
Then the very faint sound of a scream and metal weapons clashing in combat came to her ears. Gabrielle looked over at Xena, who had clearly heard the same. "We should help," she said.  
  
Xena nodded and grasped the reins of her already tired horse. "Hiya," Gabrielle yelled. Ghost, Gabrielle, Nike and Xena sped through the forest lighted by the low hanging sun towards the sounds. 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:  
Gabrielle felt the whipping of leaves as Ghost thundered through the undergrowth. Somewhere a few paces in front of her Xena and her brown mare Nike were beating their own noisy path through the green forest. She focused her hearing in front of her. The sound of battle was deafening and the screams of wounded men and women were growing in number. She focused on her own body a few moments. Her butt hurt from all their riding and her legs were probably a little stiff from sitting on horse for days at a time, but the rest of her was fit to fight. The weights of her swords were reassuring as were their sheaths tied to tightly to her back. She knew already that there was little chance for her to stop the coming battle with words although she hadn't given up on using wits yet.  
  
Nike's powerful muscles rippled below her as she came back onto the road leading to the campsite, which Gabrielle had described earlier. "Ironic, we would have become involved one way or another," Xena thought as she turned Nike slightly choosing to follow the road. She heard Gabrielle and her horse crash through the undergrowth somewhere to the left. Her partner was making no attempt at stealth. "Then maybe I should. Nah," Xena mused not even noticing that she was wearing a wide feral smile as her sweating horse thundered over a hill that had obscured her view of the happenings leaving only a small cloud of dust behind.  
  
Xena looked out over a small dip in the landscape, where a small stream headed towards the Aegean and someone had decided to make a large clearing for a campsite. A large caravan of gaudily colored wagons and small horses seemed like rock in the middle of the raging sea of a chaotic melee. A group of around twenty marauders obviously local as they had brought no horses were fighting the clearly outnumbered caravan guards. Even the merchants and their servants had been drawn into the fight even though they could only make a small difference against the superior warriors opposing them. Xena drew her broad blade from its sheath on her back and almost spontaneously her warcry erupted from her lips as she drove Nike down the road towards a surprised looking marauder apparently left in the outskirts of the battle to guard their retreat. He dove away to avoid being ridden under by the warhorse. Xena commanded her mount to stop and launched herself high into the air from her stirrups.  
  
Gabrielle heard the sound of the battle before the forest gave away to a large clearing. Large wagons and tents filled the camp site and in between them their owners fought hard to protect their property from a large group of unwashed but well armed and trained group of warriors. Gabrielle loosened her foot from Ghost's left stirrup, slipped the right one out entirely and as she thundered towards a raider, she suddenly swung her right leg backwards over Ghost's rump, while pushing herself out of her saddle with her hands. The small warrior bard spun around in the air with her right leg stretched out. It impacted hard against the surprised raider's chest.  
  
Gabrielle rose from his unconscious body and drew her swords slowly making sure they made a nasty raspy sound as she turned to find an enemy. The blades had been given to her by the tigers after they had adopted her. They had told her that these weapons which they couldn't use themselves had been given to them to keep until they met a human who was like a tiger. They had decided that she was that human. Gabrielle held the weapons ready as a raider, who had spotted her, rushed towards from her right. As she easily parried his clumsy blow, she made sure to keep an eye out for Xena, who fought in her usual wild manner on the other side of the camp.  
  
Xena kicked one raider in his nuts and as he bent forward in pain, she pressed a hand down on his back and swung across him to kick two other guys in the face. They flew back, while she landed on the other side of the gasping raider. In an act of mercy she hammered him hard in the jaw giving him over to the bliss of unconsciousness as a substitute for the pain in his crown jewels. She took a short moment to consider the ongoing battle. The merchants and their guards were slowly regaining ground mostly due to her and Gabrielle taking out several of the raiders. Gabrielle was fighting over on the other side of the camp, meticulously knocking people unconscious with the fighting style that she had picked up in China and refined by spending over a year in the field. Xena caught herself comparing Gabrielle's abilities to her own; she found no flaws or any easy openings in the small blondes' masterful fighting style. Almost casually she continued these thoughts while jumping high in the air to avoid another clumsy rush from behind by a raider.  
  
Gabrielle felt her by-now warm leg muscles scream for a break as she repeatedly and rapidly kicked a guy's upper body finishing up with a solid knee into his jaw as he bent over in pain. A dagger struck her back and was shattered by the little dragon spirit guarding it. Gabrielle used the element of surprise as she had done so many times these last years and gave the man a massive high kick aiming for his throat. Her would-be attacker dropped gasping desperately for air. She focused her concentration on finding a plan to end the fight faster instead.  
  
She parried the huge man's massive falchion with her sword. Xena launched herself up kicking the man in the jaw first with one foot and then as she spun up with the other. She landed only to see her enemy stumble backwards. Grinning wildly she pressed her advantage by swinging her sword forward, slashing the brute across the chest. Xena winced slightly at the sight of the ghastly and mortal wound. Then she saw a man just behind the brute lifting his sword to hit a woman with an enormous head of wild black hair peppered here and there with grey. Xena dashed forward and managed to impose her sword just in time to save her life.  
  
She spied a man giving two other raiders orders to attack a small group of merchants defending one wagon in particular. Her eyes narrowed in thought for a moment, while studying the situation. The raiders were about to kill the amateur guards Gabrielle took up her swords, spun them around and threw them with deadly precision just like she would've done with her sai. The raiders each got a gift of one sword skewering them from behind, leaving only their leader unscathed. The man, who Gabrielle assumed was the leader of the raiders, spun about with a deadly look of hatred in his eyes. She dropped into a fighting stance and motioned him to come take his chances. The man sneered and charged forward with his sword ready for an overhead slash.  
  
Xena pressed the raider's sword upwards away from the already wounded woman. "Hitting a woman while she's down is not nice," she commented through gritting teeth as she had pressed his sword up over his shoulder height. Suddenly she reversed her sword and stepped forward past the raider. Her sword slid through the raider like a warm knife through butter as both her strength and his lurch forward drove it forward. The raider's body folded around her weapon his blood spilling onto the sand. "Are you alright?" She asked and bent down to check on the wounded woman.  
  
Gabrielle rolled left just managing to get below the massive strike of the angry leader. She came up standing and spun about. The man pulled his sword out of the sandy ground and turned to face her again. But Gabrielle was more than ready for him. She stepped forward inside his sword arc and launched a quick combination of punches to his stomach and finished with a solid spear hand to the weak spot Xena had once shown her on the chest just below the heart. He staggered backwards to escape her lightning quick attacks. Gabrielle sure of her abilities continued forward.  
  
The man although dazed saw his chance and suddenly lunged at Gabrielle sending them both down in a tumble. His sword clattered to the ground as they rolled about in the dust. Gabrielle fought hard to throw him off but couldn't. He punched her hard in the face with his now empty sword hand. She caught him hard in the jaw and threw him off. But as she scrambled to get up, he caught her foot and tripped her. Gabrielle rolled around, but he threw himself on top of her and she suddenly found herself with his dagger at her throat.  
  
The woman, who looked familiar to Xena, looked up at her with confusion written all over her eyes. "Xena, but that can't be. I thought you were dead," the woman said. Xena felt the woman looked familiar but couldn't place as when a chill went down her spine. Something important was wrong. Quickly she rose and spun about. Across the camp she could see a burly man holding Gabrielle in an all too familiar way. He held her fast with a dagger pressed against her throat. Too many times the small stature and other factors had put the bard in that position. Xena rushed forward her fingers scrambling to get her chakram off her belt before it was too late.  
  
"This is getting old," Gabrielle said as the man held the dagger against her throat. She almost quirked a smile, when the leader threatened to kill her if the merchants' guards didn't surrender. They looked displeased, but she could easily see that they wouldn't give up their wares even if it could cost her life. She couldn't help smiling sadly as one of the caravan guards looked her in the eye apologetically.  
  
Suddenly an enraged warcry echoed all over the battle field. The leader guided her around with his knife as he spun about to take a look at the sudden interruption. Gabrielle gasped as she saw Xena making her way through the still milling mass of soldiers, fighting like a northern barbarian berserker. Her hair flying wildly around her shoulders as she slashed left and right with her broad blade. Her eyes burning with anger Xena rushed to the rescue.  
  
Xena had only one focus in her mind: Gabrielle. "No one can be allowed to do that," shot through her mind again and again as she saw the unwashed barbarian threatening the life of her partner. However her focus was so total that she almost missed the archer firing at her. Only her instincts saved her at the last moment and the arrow missed killing her instead it glanced across her arm leaving a long bleeding wound as her instincts threw her sideways.  
  
A fire awakened suddenly inside of Gabrielle as she saw Xena receive a wound. Tired of the game she had been playing with the raider leader, she grabbed hold of his forearm. "Playtime is over," she said and pressed her fingers against several nerve points numbing the entire arm with pain.  
  
Xena saw the raider holding Gabrielle scream in pain and drop the dagger. She clamored back up and almost casually threw her chakram at the archer. Gabrielle seemed able to take of the situation for now.  
  
She easily slipped out of his grip keeping a firm hold on the man's forearm. He bellowed in pain. Gabrielle spun about, let go of his arm and stomped hard down on the blade of the dropped dagger making it flip up into the air. She grabbed with it her left hand while launching into a powerful spinning kick that sent the raider captain sprawling on the ground a few feet away. He rose with a look of death in his eyes, but that changed into confusion as he suddenly felt his own knife sink into his throat. Gabrielle rose out of her throwing stance and went to gather up her swords.  
  
She brushed away her unruly black hair too look once more out over the chaotic but rapidly shrinking battle field. She was sure that the woman, who had saved her, was Xena. Xena, who had meant so much in her life, who together with Gabrielle had turned her away from the path her life had been on and onto the path that had taken her to her husband and her children. She stared as the leather clad warrior princess shook off a bleeding wound like it was a pinprick and avenged it by using her Chakram on the archer that had given it to her.  
  
She wondered suddenly, why Xena had left in such a hurry and looked over at the other end of the camp, where Gaius, the roman merchant she had formed this caravan with, had his wagons. She had run that way. Suddenly she saw a small figure dash out of there, dressed in green silks that could only have come from the lands of Chin and carrying two thin blades that didn't look like any of the swords she was used to. The small figure, a woman, joined the battle with a fierceness that rivaled Xena's. The woman with her short and very white blonde hair fought just as much with her feet and the pommels of her weapons as she did with their sharp edges. It dawned on her as she saw the lovely face of the woman who she was. That would be the only reason for Xena rushing off. That was what the sweet bard Gabrielle had become. Tara gasped in surprise.  
  
Tara watched with grim fascination, how the adventurous pair continued making massive inroads into the raiders. They hacked and slashed, kicked and hit their way through several raiders before the raiders finally had enough and the few that could stand made for the forest. Tara watched the guards chase them off, while the pair, who looked like contrasts of darkness and light, went off to fetch their warhorses. Tara knew that Xena hadn't recognized her. She could just make off without either of the pair ever knowing that they had met an old friend, but her curiosity bid her to invite them to stay and maybe tell her how they could be alive and so young over 30 years after she had last seen them. With a mischievous smile she walked in the direction Xena had gone.  
  
Xena took a few moments to look Nike over before heading over to Gabrielle and Ghost. She still needed to have Gabrielle take care of her wound as well. She heard someone walk up behind her. The footsteps reminded her of a more confident version of a walk she hadn't heard for years, several decades if she cared to count the time spent sleeping in an ice cave. "Tara," she said as a greeting before spinning around to see the woman she had saved earlier. Xena took time to look her over. It wasn't first time she had met a friend touched by the passing of time since returning from the ice, but it was still astounding to see someone she had known as a girl having turned into a woman, whose hair was already turning gray here and there.  
  
"You knew," Tara asked.  
  
Xena smiled ruefully and shook her head. "I recognized your walk," she admitted. Somehow the fun had gone out of keeping up a façade of mystery after all she had been through.  
  
"Well it makes things easier. I wanted to invite you to stay here in the camp. My cooks and servant will be happy to make you and Gabrielle comfortable," Tara offered.  
  
Xena's eyebrows that had shot up at Tara's mention of having cooks and servants slowly descended to frame her face as she smiled. "That would be nice," she remarked and took hold of Nike's bridle. "Why don't we go greet Gabrielle", she suggested and led her horse over towards the blonde bard that had already begun setting up their campsite on the outskirts of the merchants' camp. Tara followed Xena, her eyes carefully studying the woman as her eyes grew gentle and strangely even a little sad as they drew nearer the blonde bard.  
  
She turned as Xena guided Nike over to stand by Ghost. She had already taken the saddle and blanket off her beautiful warhorse and planned to wipe it down as soon as she had taken care of Xena's wounds. She was a little surprised to find that Xena had brought a guest. A small woman with a thick mane of black and mischievous eyes walked carefully behind the tall warrior princess. "Hello," Gabrielle said and smiled at the strangely familiar woman.  
  
"Hi, Gabrielle," the woman said with a smile dancing on her lips.  
  
"Do I know you," Gabrielle asked and her eyes darted over to find Xena smiling as well. She was the butt of a joke that she didn't know about that was for sure.  
  
"Gabrielle, may I introduce. Tara. She is one of the merchants that own this caravan," Xena said pleasantly and turned to unbuckle Nike's saddle.  
  
"Tara," Gabrielle said and suddenly recognized the wild girl in the traits of the face of the woman. "Tara it's good to see you," she said and gave her a hug.  
  
Tara felt a muscled body hidden beneath expensive silk as Gabrielle hugged her. She was surprised to see that the two swords were resting in sheaths on the woman's back and that Gabrielle's horse was just as much a warhorse as Xena's. "As I was saying to Xena, I would like to reward you for saving my caravan and I'm sure my partner Gaius will think the same," she said and looked into the eyes of Gabrielle for acceptance of her suggestion. She found that as well as a wisdom and patience that she didn't remember in the woman that had barely been a couple of years older than her when she had last met them.  
  
"Sure then I don't have to cook and clean for a night. It'll be nice for a change," Gabrielle remarked.  
  
Xena came around from behind Nike and said, "Are you complaining about that again? I bet it's just that you miss having servants at your beck and call."  
  
Gabrielle laughingly shook her head and remarked, "Says the woman that drags me into every town to stay at an inn, because she's getting too old to sleep out in the wild." While Xena narrowed her eyes at her in mock anger, Gabrielle turned her head to face Tara and said, "We'll be over in a half a candlemark. I need have a look at Xena's arm first." Tara nodded and headed off into the busy camp where her people were slowly trying to recover from the apparent chaos of the battle.  
  
Xena sat on her bedroll, while Gabrielle tried as gently as possible to wash out the long but not deep wound on her arm. "It's a surprise to see her here," she said.  
  
"Yeah, I'm kind of surprised to find her in charge of a caravan of her own wares. But it has been a very long while since we last met her. People can change a lot in a lot less time than that," Gabrielle said, while slowly running a wet cloth of the wound.  
  
Xena said nothing thinking instead of the many changes that they had gone through in what to them was only 6 years, but which to Tara was over 30. It was the same problem which they had with Joxer. They had simply outlived their age and where in many ways strangers to the world they lived in.  
  
"You're done," Gabrielle said after tying a bandage to her arm. She rose and turned to pick up a saddle bag.  
  
Xena saw with surprise that Gabrielle's silk shirt had a large cut across her back. She found herself having risen from the ground and grabbed Gabrielle, while closely examining the cut fabric. "What happened?" She asked after finding no wound across her partner's back.  
  
Gabrielle turned and looked at her with confusion in her eyes. "A guy attacked me from behind with a knife," she explained.  
  
"Gabrielle you can't just go around letting people hit you. What if he had hit you somewhere where the dragon doesn't protect you?" Xena felt an anger fueled by fear in roil in her guts. "What good did it do you any way? When you fought that leader he got around to put a knife at your throat," Xena said with worry and anger in her voice.  
  
"Listen Xena, I know what I'm doing. I didn't plan on that guy attacking me from behind and I took a calculated risk by throwing away my swords. Maybe I risked too much, but honestly I never felt I was in any danger. I threw my swords away to save the lives of a couple of guards. That leader of theirs seemed like easy pickings and I wasn't in any real danger from him. I didn't count on you trying to come to my rescue or getting hurt though. And I'm sorry for that and getting you worried," Gabrielle admitted.  
  
"You shouldn't be taking risks Gabrielle. There was too many ways that could've gone wrong," Xena said. Gabrielle, whom she still held, leaned in against her chest and suddenly she felt very calm.  
  
"I'll do better," Gabrielle whispered while remaining rooted to the spot. This hug was the first physical intimacy they had since meeting again on the battle field in Chin. For a few moments they stood there and let the world be distant place, which didn't consider them.  
  
"We should go," Xena said and let go of the small warrior bard. She walked off towards the camp that was slowly being rebuilding already.  
  
Gabrielle stood looking after Xena for a while lost in thought. Xena was right she had taken a wild risk, but it was still so strange for her to actually have to care if she went on living or died again. She had lived on the edge of death for so many years now that backing away from that edge might be harder than she had originally thought. She had gone through the last years of her life seeking adventure part to continue serving the greater good with all her skills and thereby giving her life meaning, but in part she had also lost herself in chaos to avoid contemplating decades of life without her soul mate at her side. Gabrielle shook her head and headed into the camp to find Xena and Tara.  
  
The merchants and their hired help seemed quite busy cleaning up camp and they had already arranged a small area for the wounded. There were a lot more raiders amongst them. There were also preparations being made for a large funeral pyre. Gabrielle admired the efficiency of the merchant and their helpers, while she walked around looking for Xena or Tara. A lot of the caravan guards that had fought along side her greeted her with smiles and respectful nods that she happily returned, remembering her vows to better incorporate her old bard self with her new warrior self. She even felt like giving a performance if people would like her to. "Gabrielle, we're in here," Xena's voice called out. It came from inside a large sand colored tent, akin to those she had seen a lot in Persia. She ducked inside.  
  
Xena and Tara were sitting besides a Persian style low table decked with fruits and some wineskins. Tara was sitting to the left surrounded by scrolls, while Xena was enjoying an apple between sipping on a cup of wine. Gabrielle smiled and dropped down to sit between the two black haired women. She reached out and took a bunch of grapes.  
  
"I bet you get asked this a lot, but I really thought you two died fighting against the Olympian gods. What happened?" Tara asked.  
  
Gabrielle looked over at Xena, but she just looked back at Gabrielle. "Go on," Xena suggested.  
  
"Well, I don't know what you heard, but to me at least that affair began after we had been crucified by the Romans and resurrected by Eli. Xena became pregnant with Eve and the gods found out that Eve was the reason for the twilight of the gods, when all the Olympian gods would fall to be replaced with the god of Eli. We had to fight for Eve's life and the best we could come up with was to trick them. We faked our deaths using the tears of Celesta to make us as if we were dead. Our plan worked perfectly except that Ares thought we were really dead and took our bodies to an ice cave. The combination of the cold and the tears of Celesta made us sleep for 25 years. We awoke to find a much changed world and Xena's Eve all grown up without us," Gabrielle explained and looked at Xena with the memory of the events that followed clear in her mind. Xena leaned forward and their hands interlaced for a while.  
  
"You've both changed a lot since I saw you last," Tara commented as she saw the first public display of affection between the pair that she had ever experienced.  
  
"Well the last time we saw you, we were dancing in a desert village," Xena said and looked around, "A lot has happened since then."  
  
Tara looked around at her tent and seemed for a moment to recall her past then smiled. "Well I guess I have changed a lot too. I'm sure my story is shorter and more boring than yours so why don't I tell mine first. Do you remember the nice boy that I liked to dance with, well we got very married not long after you left for Greece again. We moved to Damascus and started an overland trading company a couple of years later. The trading company was and is a great success, but ten years ago my husband died in an attack on one of our caravans. I've been managing it ever since. One day one of my sons will inherit a powerful merchant house if things keep going like they have been going," she said with pride shining in her eyes.  
  
Gabrielle grinned, "Well there are many ways to scam money from people, what are you selling these days?"  
  
Tara slapped her playfully across the arm and explained: "What sells in the region the caravan goes too. I actually don't like to specialize too much. We are just as likely to carry produce from several farms to a city as we are to move silk for the Romans. By the way I love your dress, where did you get such a beautiful thing?"  
  
"It was a gift from the Emperor of Chin," Gabrielle said like it was a very normal thing to get gifts from him.  
  
"Ah," Tara said and paused seemingly waiting for Gabrielle to provide a more in-depth answer. That led to a painful silence.  
  
"So where are you headed now?" Xena asked.  
  
Tara looked at her and answered, "We're heading a little away from the coast to the city of Apollonia. I have to deliver some expensive pottery to a powerful Thracian noble. Then I'll buy some fine wines, a few bales of wool and be heading back to Damascus as soon as possible."  
  
"You sound like there is a problem," Gabrielle inquired.  
  
"Yeah, but it isn't a personal problem. After the Romans eradicated the Amazons they finally decided to make Thrace a full province, which means a lot of nobles have found that all of a sudden the Romans called the shots with all their legions posted from here and all the way down into Egypt to back them up. There is talk of atrocities committed by legionnaires and impending revolution in all the taverns from here down to Poteidaia," Tara said.  
  
"Sounds bad," Gabrielle replied, while her thoughts wandered to her beloved Amazons. She hoped the nation was safe and prospering.  
  
"Where are you going?" Tara asked.  
  
"Amphipolis and later Poteidaia," Xena answered and Gabrielle nodded in agreement.  
  
"I've talked to Gaius the other merchant that is financing this caravan and we would be happy if you would join us for the remainder of the trip to Apollonia. We would compensate you by paying for everything while you stayed with us," Tara offered.  
  
Xena and Gabrielle looked at one another. A silent argument ensued between them and an agreement was reached in moments. "We'll go with you. It's on our way," Gabrielle said and smiled. 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:  
The sun came and went as clouds competed with it for supremacy in the skies. Gabrielle looked around as the caravan trundled along on the dusty road. The wagons were very heavy with expensive pottery and some luxury items and so they traveled slowly over the bumpy road towards Apollonia. She looked forward to staying in an inn with everything paid for. A warm bath maybe even together with Xena would hopefully loosen up certain intimacy issues that persisted between her and her partner. She looked over at Tara and Xena who were discussing the relative worth of Damascus steel the rare substance which was used to make powerful and dangerous weapons in Tara's hometown. She motioned slightly with her heels and Ghost gently trotted over to keep pace with Nike and Tara's wagon.  
  
"So you really killed the Olympian gods. I didn't see that one coming," Tara said as Gabrielle approached.  
  
"It was either them or Eve and Gabrielle. That was not a difficult decision. And I didn't kill all of them. There are still a few of the Olympians left like Aphrodite and Ares. But hey Gabrielle took out the Fates, so we're both in a way guilty of killing gods," Xena said and looked over at Gabrielle. Gabrielle recalled how she had returned the world to them, but didn't join the conversation.  
  
"Actually the gods will be glad to see what I'm bringing back to Greece," Xena said as she looked Gabrielle deep in eyes. She felt warm inside, maybe the spark could be rekindled into a fire. Gabrielle gave her one of her nose wrinkling grins.  
  
"I don't understand. Weren't you traveling together?" Tara asked and must have noticed the look that slid across Xena's face and surely across hers as well.  
  
"No, we. we were temporarily separated," Gabrielle heard herself speak seemingly from afar, while she studied Xena's face.  
  
Tara looked at both of them in turn then wrinkled her brow in thought for a moment. "That wasn't voluntarily," she realized out loud.  
  
"We were fooled by someone I thought was a friend," Xena said and looked away. Gabrielle wished she knew what was going on inside Xena's head.  
  
"What happened? Xena end up in jail or something," Tara pressed, apparently either not caring or not noticing the distress her questions were causing her friends.  
  
"No, Xena ended up dead. I ended up traveling the world alone," Gabrielle bristled no longer wanting to put up with Tara's apparent insensitivity.  
  
Xena didn't say anything; she just spurred Nike into a faster trot. Gabrielle looked on as Xena continued up the road ahead of them alone.  
  
"You two need to talk this through," Tara said. Gabrielle gave her an inquisitive look. "I have both sons and daughters, Gabrielle. I manage a trading company with employees all over Persia and the Roman Empire. I know a little about how these things go. You both need to put all the cards on the table or you might end up becoming each others enemies," Tara explained.  
  
Gabrielle turned around to look at Xena's form in the distance again before saying, "It's too early for us." She rode off to catch up with Xena.  
  
Gabrielle rode up to follow alongside Xena. "It seems that Tara's sense of timing is still off," Gabrielle commented and looked at the stoic warrior princess.  
  
"Tara is hiding something," Xena said and studied the road ahead.  
  
"The wagons are too heavy. No one buys that much pottery, right?" Gabrielle asked.  
  
"And she is taking the long route around the Black Sea instead of taking the regular trade route down south. My guess is that she's trading in something that she doesn't want either us or the authorities to know about," Xena said.  
  
"Tara could very well be a smuggler," Gabrielle agreed, "Should we do anything about it? I mean she is our friend and I'd rather not rat on one of the few surviving ones."  
  
"Just stay alert," Xena suggested and slowed Nike's trot.  
  
Slowly Tara caught up with the two women, who took to riding alongside her wagon in silence. Gabrielle felt sore and only the knowledge that they would arrive in Apollonia in little less than a candlemark kept her happy.  
  
Gabrielle heard the sound of studded leather walking on stone ahead and cast a glance over at Xena, who nodded. She had heard it as well. Gabrielle focused on the sound. She could hear a series of footsteps walking in step. She could hear weapons dangling against armor and something metallic sliding against cloth. Light infantry probably Roman she reasoned. "Tara, a patrol of legionnaires is coming up the road, if you have anything you need to hide, do it now," she suggested and smiled at the black haired woman's look of surprise.  
  
Tara issued some orders in Persian to her guards and servant. They scattered to check up on their cargo, while Xena rode up to Gabrielle and whispered, "What did she tell them?" Xena hadn't learned that language yet.  
  
"She told them to make sure everything was still hidden. She didn't mention what it was, but at least we know it's something she doesn't want the Romans to find," Gabrielle answered in a whisper.  
  
Suddenly the sound of studded sandals became apparent even to those, who hadn't been taught to listen for the sounds behind the sounds. A group of legionnaires led by a centurion marched up the road towards them. They stopped a few feet from Xena and Gabrielle. The centurion studied them before addressing the caravan in general, "In the name of the Roman empire I must ask you to submit to a search."  
  
Tara cast a glance at one of her men, who inclined his head. She jumped down from her seat on the wagon and walked over to the centurion. "My friend my wares are yours to examine. Feel free," she said and gestured towards the wagons. The centurion smiled and barked a couple of clipped orders in Roman to his soldiers. They scattered and quickly began looking carefully through the precious cargo inside the wagons; while Tara hovered nearby as if nervous the legionnaires would break anything. A servant brought water to refresh the thirsty soldiers and the search didn't last long. The centurion apologized for the inconvenience and the patrol continued on its way. Tara breathed a sigh of relief and gestured for the caravan to continue towards the nearby city of Apollonia.  
  
Apollonia was larger than Gabrielle remembered it. They had last been here, when they had met with Beloch, Xenon's father in law and the man, who had almost destroyed what little, had been left of the Centaur race. They had in the end stopped his wanton slaying of innocent people, but it had still been a bitter time. Apollonia was now ruled by the Romans and it looked like it thrived. A large amount of banners and colored flags could be seen everywhere even in the farmsteads that surrounded the city.  
  
"What is happening here?" Gabrielle asked.  
  
Tara just shrugged. Xena smiled and replied, "Actually they're throwing a party for a friend of ours."  
  
Gabrielle gave Xena a look to indicate, she should continue.  
  
"If I haven't gotten my dates and traditions all mixed up they're celebrating Aphrodite in a citywide festival in a day or two. It should be one hell of a party," Xena explained.  
  
"Maybe I'll be able to have a chat with Aphrodite. Catch up. Maybe get some advice," Gabrielle thought.  
  
The caravan was slowly processed by the guards at the wall, and while Tara's servants handled moving the cargo into a warehouse close to the city gate, Tara took Xena and Gabrielle to the inn. They walked through the crowded streets marveling at all the flowers and colors displayed in honor of their friend.  
  
"You'll love this inn. It's excellent. It's like having a room in a palace with all the servants that come with it," Tara exulted.  
  
"Aren't you worried about your cargo?" Gabrielle asked as they turned a corner and left direct sight of the warehouse and wagons.  
  
"Gaius is taking care of it and I've paid some mercenaries a handsome amount of money to guard my cargo from theft," Tara explained. "Actually our stay at the inn serves two purposes. We're staying there and the buyer of my pottery knows how to find me there. I hope he won't try haggling too much over my prices. I still need to pay the people in Damascus, who made the pots," she said and wrinkled her brow, when both Gabrielle and Xena smirked at the remark.  
  
"And I bet the weapons you're hiding in them were expensive as well," Xena remarked in a dry tone.  
  
Tara looked from Xena to Gabrielle and back again, "How long have you known?"  
  
"Since the first hill we had to crest. The wagons were too heavy," Xena explained not mentioning that she had only been guessing that Tara was smuggling weapons, probably for those who wanted to rebel against the Romans. A noble idea in her estimation the Romans had no right to rule on Thracian soil.  
  
"Listen you can't reveal this to anyone. The Romans kill those who incite rebellion and those who help them aren't better off. Can't we talk about at the inn," Tara pleaded in a low tone to avoid garnering further suspicion from passersby.  
  
Xena and Gabrielle nodded with a little worry in their eyes.  
  
They continued making their way through the crowded streets until they walked through an alley just wide enough to guide their horses through and came into a courtyard that proved to be the inner yard of a very large inn. "Here we are," Tara said and indicated where the stables were. She headed into the taproom to setup their reservations, while Xena and Gabrielle not trusting the stable boys went to stable their warhorses.  
  
Gabrielle lifted the blanket of Ghost and drying her off, while Xena was still wrestling with a buckle that didn't want to open when she wanted it to. "Xena, what should we do about the weapons?" She couldn't help but asking.  
  
"Should we do anything?" Xena answered right back between curses as she tried to open the dirt encrusted buckle.  
  
"If the Thracians rebel against the Romans, they will lose, but probably not before a massive loss of life on both sides. I thought about the legions a lot before and while the Amazons were fighting and fleeing them. I am sure that no amount of local militia will be able to defeat them anymore. It would require large armies or nations of warriors like the Persians or the Norsemen to hold them off or even defeat them. Besides a rebellion is wrong if people aren't oppressed. And they don't look it. At least at first look the people here didn't seem to be unhappy," Gabrielle explained.  
  
Xena looked at her thoughtfully then said, "I just don't like the idea of Romans ruling Thrace. I never have and I never will. Thrace should be ruled by Thracians."  
  
"It mostly still is ruled locally anyway. And the Roman culture isn't that far removed from ours either. Honestly I think we should try to convince Tara to not sell her wares yet. At least until we know why the Thracians want to rebel. They didn't the last time I looked. Or did you hear anything when you were in Amphipolis," Gabrielle had finished brushing Ghost and went over to fetch some feed for the hungry horse.  
  
"I didn't and I think you're right. We should look into this. Neither Amphipolis nor Poteidaia is very far from here. They could become involved. Yes!" Xena yelled triumphantly as the buckle finally snapped open.  
  
"I'll go hear what the people are talking about," Gabrielle suggested, when her stomach suddenly growled, "after I've had some dinner and thrown our things up in our rooms."  
  
"Be careful. I'll try to find out more from Tara," Xena said out loud as Gabrielle left for the taproom with her saddle and most of their baggage.  
  
Gabrielle walked into the clean and well kept taproom. There were no rowdy foreigners or dangerous looking warriors around just merchants and their servants. She expected that their stay here would be a lot more uneventful than some of the dives they had stayed in over the years. Suddenly she stopped and her smile broadened into a grin. "Their, we, us," she mused in her thoughts savoring the words as if they were the nectar of gods. How funny was it that just as she had finally moved beyond her grief and been ready for a future without Xena sad as it may have been, Xena returned to her.  
  
"Gabrielle, I've booked some rooms for you. What are you laughing at?" Tara interrupted her thoughts.  
  
Gabrielle had to think back at what the black haired woman had said before answering, "Life Tara, I am laughing at the sheer strength, will and unpredictability of life. Until recently I thought my life was to be eternally marred by sadness. I lost my husband to Callisto. My daughter had to die, because she was a monster. All my family and friends have aged into unrecognizable people. Even worse most of them are dead. Then finally Xena died leaving me as the loneliest person on this sorry world. And now after I finally got over all of that, she is returned to me. It is funny if you're me."  
  
Tara stared at her for moment not saying anything and thinking about the thousand other sacrifices and acts of goodness she had read about in Gabrielle and other bards' accounts of Xena the Warrior Princess and now also legendary Gabrielle the Battling Bard. She had never realized the sacrifices and strength of character that such acts cost the ones involved. "I don't if I should comfort or congratulate you," she said.  
  
Gabrielle looked at her and kept smiling even if a twinge of sadness rested in her eyes, "Congratulate me. Now where were our rooms and is a large plate of some kind of food expensive here?"  
  
"Here is the key to your room and I am paying for your stay, remember. That includes feeding you and your horses," Tara explained.  
  
"It's your money," Gabrielle said gladly and accepted the key to their room. Tara pointed at the stairs and she wandered up to look for their room.  
  
A little later Gabrielle rose from her empty plate and said, "Enjoy your meal Xena." Xena had come in and gotten a plate of food a few moments ago.  
  
Gabrielle walked out into the courtyard, while tying her swords back into their places on her back. She barely noted a man in an expensive cloak pass her in the entrance. She breathed in the late afternoon air and headed out onto the still busy streets of Apollonia.  
  
Gabrielle browsed the stalls and savored it. It was the first time she could do that in years. She even felt comfortable in her own skin with people moving around her. Once in a while just like in Egypt and later in Athens she had to suppress her reflexes to avoid hurting an innocent, but unlike those times she wasn't annoyed by the experience. Gabrielle couldn't help examining a beautiful blue toga that might be useful for a prolonged stay in Amphipolis or some less formal occasion together with Xena.  
  
"I don't believe it," a very happy voice suddenly rang out of the market she was visiting. She felt that the comment had been directed at her and turned. A large man, his body bulging with muscles, wearing leather pants and a blue shirt, rushed towards her with a big smile plastered all over his oafish face. She willingly let him envelop her in a tight embrace and the tall man lifted her of her feet for a few moments then put her back down.  
  
"Hi, Virgil," Gabrielle said after he had let her go.  
  
"Gabrielle, you're a sight. I'm so glad to see you again. Everyone thinks you died fighting with the Amazons against the Romans. There are so many people, who'll be so happy to see you again," he said and smiled.  
  
"I'm glad to be back," she said with a nose wrinkling grin.  
  
"So what happened? Where did you go?" He blurted.  
  
Gabrielle walked up to a fountain and took a sip of water. Virgil followed her closely. "After the Amazons lost the war against the Romans I went east to find myself a lot like the last time I went to there. I drifted around for a while and then suddenly I found myself deeply involved in the largest war the people of Chin have seen in generations. I nearly died at the hand of the warlord, who started the entire thing, but I was saved by a great and wise dragon. I spent a few months recovering in his valley living with the spirits and animal gods, who shared the valley with the dragon. Then a skirmish found me and in the middle of it so did Xena," Gabrielle explained.  
  
Virgil's eyes widened and he stammered, "I. I thought Xena was dead and had to stay that way." She noted the slight hint of unhappiness in his voice.  
  
"So did I actually, but apparently as it turns out, she didn't have to. I haven't gotten all of the details yet, but it had something to do with the Japanese gods and the Japanese code of honor. Honor is central to their entire life and the Gods felt that Xena remaining dead was a slight against their honor as they had caused her to actually come to Japan," Gabrielle said and sat down. Virgil sat besides her on the edge of the fountain.  
  
"So now you're heading home," he said.  
  
"Yeah, Lila and Sarah are probably going to want my hide for being away for such a long time again. But we're stopping in Amphipolis to see Eve first and then I'll probably head over to be with my family a little," she explained.  
  
"They'll be glad to know you're alive. Just like I am," he said.  
  
"Mm," Gabrielle said distractedly as her thoughts returned to their current problem.  
  
"So how long are you going to stay in Apollonia?" Virgil asked.  
  
"At least until we find out what is going on? We heard rumors that there is a rebellion brewing against the Roman Empire in these parts. I wanted to find out what is going on, but I haven't picked up much dissatisfaction from the merchants around here," she answered.  
  
Virgil looked at her, then suddenly grinned and shook his head, "This is typical you and Xena. You're barely even close to home before you start looking for adventure."  
  
"It isn't about adventure Virgil. It's about the Greater Good. Didn't Joxer teach you these things?" Gabrielle asked.  
  
"My father wanted me to become a blacksmith not an adventurer," Virgil reminded her.  
  
Gabrielle shrugged.  
  
"I happen to know a little bit about what's going on," Virgil boasted. Gabrielle nodded for him to go on. "It's a mess. Apollonia has formally been under Roman rule for a long time and has prospered due to the trade going to and from Rome and its provinces especially now that Egypt and Judea have fallen in line. The Romans and those who follow their edicts have never been popular outside the cities, but recently some of the farmers and villagers nearby have become violently opposed to those, who are loyal to Rome. I've heard rumors of massacres out there in the countryside. It hasn't spread into the cities yet, but that may just be a question of time. There are those, who claim that it's the Romans who're killing people out in the village and are inciting for rebellion here in Apollonia. But it mostly rumors and talk I picked up in inns on the way here," Virgil explained.  
  
"Thank you, Virgil. You've been a great help. Now could you point me towards the Roman quarter? I need to give it a closer look," Gabrielle said.  
  
"Are you sure?" Virgil started to protest, but was brought short by the impatient look in Gabrielle's eyes. "All right I'll take you there," he said. Gabrielle and Virgil headed off towards the Roman quarter.  
  
Xena watched Gabrielle disappear out of the taproom and just managed to suppress her instincts to follow her friend secretly to make sure no one hurt her precious bard. Instead she forced herself to enjoy dinner. Gabrielle was a big girl now and had proven that she could take care of herself although she had also proven time and again that if there was a mess to find, it would usually be the first thing she found.  
  
Xena's ever watchful senses made note of the man that walked up to the bartender and whispered a question. He moved like a trained warrior and even though his face was hidden from sight the man exuded charisma. The cloaked figure turned his head and looked directly at the table she shared with Tara, who was slowly sipping some wine as if she waited for something or someone. The man seemed to pause a while studying her then walked over to stand across from her. "Can I sit down," he asked in a slightly accented voice that was so similar to that of his father.  
  
"Beloch," Xena said and nodded. The man drew back the hood of his cloak and sat down across from both Xena and Tara. "Your buyer," Xena said to Tara more as a statement than a question.  
  
"I didn't know you knew each other," Tara and Beloch said almost as a choir.  
  
"I get around," Xena said with a lifted eyebrow looking as stoic as possible.  
  
"We need to finish our transaction," Beloch whispered urgently.  
  
"There are still matters to discuss. I've got a large room upstairs, where we can discuss matters," Tara suggested and rose. "Why don't you join us," Tara said. Xena nodded happy not having to eavesdrop as she had planned. "I will," she answered. Beloch looked at Tara in bewilderment. "She would've listened in, if we had tried to exclude her," Tara explained as they walked upstairs. "Xena, I must say I am pleased to see that the word of your death is once again proven wrong. Are you sure you didn't acquire some immortality during your adventures?" Beloch asked. Xena didn't deign to answer instead opting to give Beloch an icy stare. She assumed her attitude to immortals was at still well known after fighting them for so much of her adult life. Tara opened the door to her room with an iron key and stepped aside to allow her guests passage. Xena and Beloch walked over and sat on a spread of cushions surrounding a low table. Tara gathered up some scrolls, an inkwell and a quill before sitting down as well. "Before we speak another word I need an oath from the both of you that what is spoken of here is not told to anyone," Beloch demanded. "I can't swear to that. My partner will need to be told of the proceedings if I don't put this onto paper. I can however swear on my life and his that we will not reveal anything that we're told to anyone else," Tara explained. "And you?" He said and turned slightly to face Xena. "I will share it with Gabrielle, but no one else. I give you my word," Xena said. "Your word is good. I know that. But you merchant I need you to swear by those Persian gods that you worship," Beloch demanded. Tara did as he had asked. "Good then let's proceed. There are great things happening and soon the Romans might find themselves the conquered ones," Beloch said. 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:  
"Excuse me, you seem interested in that garment," the merchant said and approached Virgil and Gabrielle as they surreptitiously examined the wares on display at the stall. Nearby a small patrol of legionnaires passed through the thinning crowd. The roman quarter of Apollonia was filled with merchants plying their trade in the shadows of the houses of richer merchants and other Roman allies.  
  
"Yeah, I like the color," Gabrielle admitted and ran her hand affectionately over the green shirt that reminded her in color and texture of the top she had worn for years during her travels with Xena.  
  
"A beautiful woman such as you surely has little need for such finery, but I think can offer your husband a favorable price so that he may remain in your favor," the merchant smiled winningly apparently not noticing Virgil's sudden coughing fit.  
  
She smiled indulgently not wanting to bother the merchant with the real details as the legionnaires passed the stall. She turned an eye towards the merchant trying to look as if she was eager to own the green shirt and didn't want him to know how eager. "I guess we can afford this. Right honey," she said. Gabrielle forced herself not to laugh out loud at the panicked expression on Virgil's face.  
  
"Err, yeah I think so," Virgil said then suddenly a sliver of understanding dawned in his eyes.  
  
"How much does it cost?" Gabrielle felt her haggling instincts long disused awaken.  
  
"8 dinars," the merchant intoned. Gabrielle didn't even have to fake an outraged expression.  
  
"8 dinars, only if you include just as many blouses as I am giving you dinars. 1 dinar, this is a peasant's garment and should cost as much," she said.  
  
"This is made from extremely rare and expensive wool shorn from sheep in the far north. 6 dinars no less," the merchant intoned.  
  
"Northerner wool isn't better than Greek wool. In fact I am pretty sure that Greek wool is much better, coming from a family of farmers and herders. 2 dinars," Gabrielle explained consciously slipping over into her native Poteidaian dialect.  
  
"5 dinars," the merchant said.  
  
"3," Gabrielle answered.  
  
"4," the merchant said and offered her his hand.  
  
"Sold," Gabrielle said and grabbed his hand in a steady handshake.  
  
"A pleasure doing business with you," the merchant said as Gabrielle drew out her wallet and began counting a few coins.  
  
While giving the merchant his money Gabrielle asked, "I noticed there were legionnaires out. Is something up? I thought everything would be peaceful for the festival," Gabrielle avoided speaking Aphrodite's name knowing that the Goddess might feel inclined to come and greet her friend at the mention of her name.  
  
"Not in town. There is trouble out in the countryside, but I don't really know. The Legions guard roads well and I haven't had any trouble. If you ask me I think those ungrateful bastards just don't remember how it was like without the Romans. There is barely anyone alive these days who remember anyway," the merchant said while his eyes never left her hands count up the 4 dinars.  
  
Gabrielle handed the merchant his money and took the green shirt as she gestured for Virgil to follow her. She barely contained a roar of laughter, when her sensitive ears picked up the merchant mumbling, "Now there's guy that has been properly housebroken."  
  
"It is the same everywhere," Virgil said as he followed Gabrielle. She walked determinedly in the direction the Legionnaires had come from.  
  
"Yeah, I guess no one here really knows much more. So we need to go get the information from a different source," Gabrielle replied and gestured towards a large structure that stood near the center of the Roman quarter.  
  
Virgil looked a little nervous, she decided after studying the massive roman compound that lay at the center of the Roman quarter of Apollonia. She gave it another look. The guards outside looked smart enough not to fall for any simple tricks and the walls were too high and smooth to scale without getting noticed by a patrol even with Apollo's wagon only a small sliver on the horizon.  
  
"We shouldn't be doing this. If you get caught or recognized they'll arrest us and sell us as slaves," Virgil said.  
  
"Virgil, I need to find out what the problem is. I can't seem to find anyone here on the street that has the answers to my questions or who is really unhappy with Roman rule. In my experience whoever is in charge in there is more likely to know the answers I want than some merchant or commoner. I can also see with my own eyes, what kind of governor they have around here," Gabrielle explained. All around them shops were closing and people were lighting torches and candles in their houses and homes. Night had come.  
  
"Alright Beloch, what is going on?" Tara asked impatiently as the dark skinned man had risen and begun pacing around in her room.  
  
"This land suffers under the tyranny of the Romans as does much of the known world. They've been tolerated so far, but now they have gone too far. I have with my own eyes seen legionnaires slaughter entire villages. Their only crime was keeping enough food for themselves that they may survive the winter. I have come upon farmsteads burned to the ground and all but the children hammered to crosses. Their crime was forgetting to pay respect to a passing Roman noble. They need to be put in their place and I am not the only one who feels like this. For nearly a year now I have spent from my fortune to seek out and unite others all over Thrace and Greece, who think like I do. We will rise up and cast the yoke of the Romans from our necks. I have ordered the powerful weapons from Damascus so that I may arm those capable of fighting and allow them to penetrate Roman armors, shields and ice cold hearts. It is time for Thrace to be free," Beloch said and Xena saw an intense fire burning in his eyes, the fire of someone who believes in his cause with all his heart and soul.  
  
Xena thought about what he had said and if what he claimed was true then the Roman Empire should be destroyed. The empire that had caused her and Gabrielle so much pain and grief would be crushed under the heels of all those they had wronged. Although still cautious Xena vowed that she would help it become like this.  
  
"All that bluster and high sentiment is fine, but I came here to negotiate a deal not become apart of some rebellion that won't change anything," Tara said and glanced at a scroll.  
  
"If I add the original price of these weapons with my expenses in getting them here and compensation for the danger that my part in this puts me into I think you'll have to pay 18 dinars per weapon," Tara said and thereby opened the bidding.  
  
Xena leaned back in her seat and thought about what Beloch had said, while the discussion between the black haired pair across from her became increasingly intense. She wondered what Gabrielle would think about Beloch's plans. What would Gabrielle learn out there? And why was it taking her so long?  
  
Gabrielle watched the guards as their replacements arrived from inside the compound. They chatted a little with their comrades. "Wait here," Gabrielle said and sprinted across the shadowed road that surrounded the compound and as she neared the wall, jumped into the air. Not far to her right she could hear the currently distracted guards chat about their day. She caught hold of the bricks that protruded from wall forming a pattern of red against yellow all along the wall. Using her carefully won strength she hoisted herself in her arms, while scrambling with her feet to gain a foothold. She managed to get up and a small jump later allowed her to grasp onto the battlements.  
  
Virgil gasped as he saw a small patrol of legionnaires walk atop the wall. If they glanced to the side they would see Gabrielle's hands. Quickly he drew his sword and ran towards the main gate.  
  
Gabrielle heard the legionnaires' armor as they marched towards her, when suddenly a fight erupted somewhere below. The legionnaires' steps became a wild run and then the danger had passed her. Curious to the source of the disturbance below Gabrielle drew herself over the wall and onto the battlements. A quick glance into the courtyard below almost made her curse out loud. It would seem that Joxer's foolishness hadn't completely skipped a generation, as she saw angry legionnaires drag an unconscious and bleeding Virgil off towards what she presumed was the prison. "Another thing on my list of things to do," Gabrielle mumbled, while her eyes searched for a safe route towards the beautiful house that she knew from experience was the home and offices of the commanding Roman officer.  
  
Gabrielle ducked below a carriage full of hay that some servant had conveniently left outside the stables halfway to her goal. Above her on the wall legionnaires focused on the threat outside remained oblivious to the small figure passing from shadow to shadow below. Gabrielle ran towards a barrel, launched herself into the air and stepped once onto the barrel and landed almost soundlessly atop the roof of the Roman house. As was custom of Roman buildings it had its own inner courtyard. Gabrielle quickly jumped into the darkness of the small inner courtyard to avoid being seen from the wall.  
  
She landed with a small splash and she felt water around her boots. Apparently the Roman general had a shallow pool in the middle of his house. Taking long steps she walked out of the water, while debating if she should take off her boots to avoid leaving wet footprints for some servant to find. As she stood still her senses examined her surroundings. She could make out the sound of several people sleeping, some snoring, some not. She smelled the left over scents of the grilled boar that the household had consumed for dinner, while her eyes saw the beautiful and well maintained murals that filled the walls of the inside of the house. Satisfied that there was no one awake to hear her or see her footprints she began methodically looking for some kind of office, where the Roman general would keep his scrolls.  
  
Carefully Gabrielle slipped the door open. She had looked into all the rooms that had been empty of sleeping people, but hadn't found what she was looking for, so now she was taking a few chances. The room was barely lit by a flickering candle and a man clad in an expensive roman toga lay with his head resting on a desk sleeping amongst symbols of rank, scrolls and ink. Gabrielle edged into the room and slipped across the tiled floor to look at the scrolls on the table and cast a glance around the room. A silver armor hung on a rack near the window with a typical roman sword resting at its side. An untouched plate of food stood next to the sleeping man, who had his face turned towards the window.  
  
Gabrielle stalked over to the desk and glanced at the papers laid out on it. Most them were boring logistical stuff, one of the many things she didn't miss about leading an army. One was interesting. Its words seemed to be gibberish. Gabrielle remembered Xena teaching her about the ciphers used by armies. She especially remembered the one that Caesar had thought was so clever. She began slowly translating the scroll in her mind.  
  
Gabrielle was halfway through the scroll, which was a message from some spy out in the countryside about an impending rebellion and the atrocities that the rebels claimed the Romans had done. Suddenly an elbow shot backwards toward her gut. Gabrielle managed to flex her muscles at the last moment. She took a few steps back in pain, but she kept her breath. The general was awake and scrambling out of his chair towards his weapon resting with his armor.  
  
She didn't waste any time and launched herself over the desk, rolled on her landing and came up behind him drawing one of her swords and placing it against his neck in one swift move. His hand was inches from the hilt of his sword as he froze.  
  
"Turn around slowly," she said with a voice dripping with as much menace as she could muster.  
  
The roman general turned around slowly and suddenly both of them gasped.  
  
"Plini." Gabrielle breathed as she recognized the Roman soldier she had first met in Egypt and who had later helped her when the Romans had caught her in Athens. She drew her sword away from his neck and smiled apologetically.  
  
"I don't believe it. Gabrielle it is good to see you alive," he said with a friendly smile and grabbed her into a hug.  
  
"I get that a lot these days. People should stop declaring me dead until they find my body and then they'd better make sure to check again a few years later if it is still in its grave," she said with a smile as the hug ended.  
  
"What brings you here? Or I shouldn't I ask. You were spying weren't you?" Plini asked.  
  
"I was. I am sorry Plini. I just don't have that good a history with the Roman Empire. I can't just walk up to the local barracks and ask them if the rumors of trouble are true," she admitted.  
  
"I know. In fact I must admit I thought you had died at Roman hands fighting for the Amazons and hated the idea that the Empire I serve could be so blatantly the cause for your death," he explained and yawned.  
  
Gabrielle smiled pleasant motioned for the obviously tired Roman to find a place to sit. Plini walked over and sat down on a couch that sat against the wall next to his armor rack. Gabrielle sat down besides him.  
  
"So what have you been doing since. the Roman Amazon war," Plini asked.  
  
"Well honestly I went east looking for a reason to remain alive. I spent a lot of time thinking about my life and what I should do with what remained of it. I think you'll find this funny. I ended up as one of the generals in a war between Chin and the Mongol tribes. I am quite famous as a general back east," she said with a wry chuckle.  
  
Plini looked at her and nodded. It seemed that it hadn't been as much a surprise to him as it had been to her partner. "So now you're back. to do what?"  
  
"I don't know yet, probably take a long vacation with my partner," Gabrielle admitted.  
  
"Your partner, so it finally happened. The great battling bard has found her match," Plini teased.  
  
"No, it is even better. Xena has returned to me," she said.  
  
Plini fell completely silent at that. He stared at her in amazement. "You're not kidding. But I thought that Xena was dead," he stammered.  
  
"Some gods decided it wasn't fair for her to die for their cause and they brought her back to life," Gabrielle explained.  
  
"Your lives are truly remarkable," Plini commented.  
  
"Yeah," she admitted readily.  
  
"What did you want here?" Plini suddenly asked as he noticed Gabrielle staring off into space.  
  
Her eyes focused their green intensity on him. "Actually I was wondering what is going on here in Thrace. We heard rumors of people pushing for an uprising against Roman rule, but the people out in the city seem quite happy about their life under your rule. I wanted to find out if the roman general in the area knew more," Gabrielle explained.  
  
"Ah, well therein lays the reason for me sleeping in my office. It's probably worse than what you've heard. You see when we came to Thrace it hadn't seen any true stability under its many changing rulers for centuries. In the beginning and in fact up until now our presence here was tolerated if not welcomed. As things always are the people out in the countryside are the ones thinking that the old ways are the best. So when we came and opened up for more trade and settlement by outsiders a certain amount of resentment began to grow. It was all getting a bit old and it should have died out in a generation or more, but then just about a year ago a group of marauders sprang up out there somewhere in the wilderness. They began destroying Roman sponsored settlements and Roman friendly farmers. They have committed atrocities, but they try to blame us for it. I am here to lead an entire legion against these bastards, but we can't find them. Not even our native guides have been any help at all. They seem to just melt into the forest after their attacks," Plini explained.  
  
"Do you have any idea, why all of a sudden this turned violent," Gabrielle asked.  
  
"No. Our rule is fair. We uphold law and order, the taxes aren't too high, the harvests have been fine and the trade is brisk. I don't understand what is motivating these people," Plini explained. "And it is not like they're standing their ground and fighting against their oppressors. They're attacking innocents and slaughtering all those they don't crucify."  
  
"Then no matter what this uprising must be stopped," Gabrielle said. "I promise Xena and I will stop whoever is behind all of this and bring him or her to justice."  
  
"Gabrielle you're truly a great friend, but I can't ask you to become involved in this. I don't want to send a friend like you into danger no matter how legendary you or your friend is. My soldiers and spies will do their job," Plini said.  
  
"Plini, still you don't know me well huh. I am already involved in this and there is no chance that I'll let it go. Just let me help you. I'll stop those rebels no matter if you let me or not," she explained.  
  
He considered her for a moment then nodded in defeat. "At least let me help you. My soldiers and spies could."  
  
Gabrielle interrupted him, "Xena would never let any Roman legionnaire help her. Plini don't look disappointed you can still help me. Another friend of mine got caught and thrown into your prison, because he thought he needed to help me sneak in here. If you would pardon him and let him go I would be grateful."  
  
"No problem, who is he?" Plini asked and rose.  
  
"His name is Virgil, he is Roman, the son of a dear departed friend and a bard like me," Gabrielle said as she followed Plini out of the room.  
  
"How did he get caught?" Plini asked as they passed through the inner courtyard of his house.  
  
"I think he tried to distract your guards by attacking them, while I hung from your battlements by my fingertips," she said.  
  
"Alright, I'll have to talk to my guards about that. Anyway why would attack the guards instead of just doing something flashy nearby and then run off," Plini asked as they left his house.  
  
"He seems to have inherited his father's infatuation with me and some of his ability to get into a lot of trouble with very little help from me," Gabrielle explained.  
  
"Is he a trustworthy man?" Plini asked suddenly sounding a lot more serious.  
  
Gabrielle looked up at the ruggedly handsome Roman general. "Yeah, why do you ask?"  
  
"Well my guess is that you wouldn't want too many people to know that you're working with me just in case. Why don't we get this fellow to act as our go-between?" Plini asked.  
  
"Sounds like a good idea," Gabrielle admitted as the Roman general awoke the prison guards. They walked in and stopped outside the cell of Virgil.  
  
"Gabrielle," Virgil blurted in surprise as he saw her enter with the noble looking Roman.  
  
"Say Plini, why don't you keep Virgil here for the night and send him over to the inn in the morning? He knows where it is," Gabrielle suggested.  
  
Virgil looked at her in complete surprise and shock.  
  
"Should I keep him in or out of the prison?" Plini asked with a mischievous smile.  
  
Virgil looked about to curse their ancestors.  
  
"Out," Gabrielle said after trying to look as if she barely cared.  
  
"What is going on?" Virgil finally asked.  
  
"Virgil this is my good friend Plini. Plini. Virgil," she introduced them to each other. "Listen Virgil I would like you to stay here with Plini and get the details on what has being going on out in the countryside. I need to go back to the inn, before Xena decided to tear this city apart looking for me."  
  
The blond man nodded his understanding. A prison guard walked up and unlocked the prison while Gabrielle and Plini waited. They headed out of the prison together and Plini led them to the main gate.  
  
"See you in the morning," Gabrielle said to Virgil. "And thank you for your help," she said to Plini before disappearing into the night.  
  
Plini sighed longingly as the graceful and strong amazon disappeared into the streets of Apollonia.  
  
"Yeah, I know," Virgil said with the same longing in his voice, "but she isn't for us. It took me a long time to realize that, but you never stop wanting it to be different."  
  
"Why don't we go and open a cask of wine. I think we better have a long talk now about what is going on. And later maybe you might tell me more about her," Plini said as his guards closed the gates in front of them. 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:  
Beloch stood at the open window and looked out over the city illuminated by the moon shining from a cloudless sky. Tara was busy burning the scrolls detailing the contents of her caravan. Xena chose this moment to walk up and stand besides the quiet man looking out over the city. For a moment she considered leaving the inn to find Gabrielle, but something told her that nothing was wrong.  
  
"You're not sure about this rebellion," Beloch shifted slightly and looked over at her.  
  
"No, I don't trust my feelings in this matter. There is no love lost between me and the Romans. And I certainly don't appreciate their presence in my homeland, but honestly the land has become a lot more stable and safe under their rule, so I am not sure that it is not just my past clouding the issue. My anger and hate is so easily invoked by my memories that I sometimes can't really tell if it is the past or the present making the difference," Xena thought then as she noticed Beloch awaiting her answer, she just gave him the most inscrutable look she could come up with.  
  
"You have changed again since I saw you last," Beloch commented.  
  
"Dying always changes a person," Xena admitted.  
  
"I guess it would. Maybe it is that. Maybe be not. It's like you're at the same time anxious to be at peace, yet ready to explode into action at the drop of a pin. Something troubles you," he commented.  
  
Xena arched her right eyebrow for a moment but didn't reply instead opting to stare out into the night. She didn't trust this man even if he seemed to have an insight into her that rivaled that of his father. She felt a shiver going down her spine, a feeling she knew well.  
  
"So tomorrow we finish the trade," Beloch turned towards Tara awaiting her answer.  
  
"Just bring the money to the warehouse," Tara said.  
  
Xena turned and walked towards the door guided by her senses.  
  
Gabrielle walked towards the cozy inn, where they were staying. A single hired guard stood at the entry and eyed her warily as she walked towards the closed entrance wearing her swords and a no nonsense kind of look. He stepped forward to stop her as she headed inside. "I'm a guest," she said with a pleasant smile.  
  
"I don't believe you. Riffraff like you couldn't pay a single night in this establishment. Look, go to some dive in slums I am sure they let harlots like you buy a bed by the hour," the man said with an arrogant leer as his eyes wandered over her form.  
  
"Please, if you'd just go inside and ask for Tara or Xena. They can verify my claim," she asked pushing down the warrior instinct of just punching this guy out and be done with it.  
  
"I said no girlie. There is no way I am going to leave my post and let you just wander into the stables and steal the horses or worse. Now I'll escort you back to the main street and then you'll go somewhere where bitches like you are wanted or else," he said and put a hand down onto his sword's hilt.  
  
Gabrielle felt her anger boil, it was a beast that she rarely let out of its cage, but this man deserved to meet it. Faster than the man's eyes could follow her left fist thundered forward and delivered a heavy blow to his unarmored crotch. The man fell to his knees whimpering, but as sooner his knees had touched the cobblestone Gabrielle's knee snapped forward and struck him in his nose, sending him flying back to rest with his head against the door to the inn. Gabrielle instantly regretted abusing the man instead of trying harder to negotiating a compromise to get him to fetch Tara or Xena to clear up the situation. Someone obviously alerted by the noise opened the door.  
  
"Bravo, now that you won entry, why are you still standing outside?" Ares' familiar voice greeted her.  
  
"Ares," she said and walked forward, while her mind suddenly whirled with questions that always plagued her, when she met the God of War. She remembered the last time she had seen him in the tent of an ambitious Roman warlord busy indirectly revealing to her the entire Roman battle plan probably to satisfy some perverted notion of fair play in his head.  
  
"It is good to see you again," the dark man said.  
  
"It has been a while," she mumbled, while her eyes darted around the deserted taproom looking for some indication of Xena's presence.  
  
"A follower of mine recently gave me a very detailed report of your latest adventures in the East. I must say I am proud of you. I told you that you would make a great general," he said with glee in his voice.  
  
"I fought to protect the people of Chin," she said with conviction. She felt way too old to be baited into showing anger by Ares again.  
  
"Really, that way it was told to me, you enjoyed the wild abandon of the battles, the pleasures of command just as much as you did the sweetness of victory. They called you Little Dragon, didn't they?" He said locking gazes with her.  
  
"Yeah," she admitted.  
  
"And when they did every part of you tingled didn't it? The feeling that you were important and not Xena, not me, not some other trumped fool. I bet that even if you haven't admitted it to yourself, somewhere deep down you loved it. You loved being in command for once. You loved having all that power. And I bet you still miss it," he said with the look of a cat that had just caught a mouse on his face.  
  
Gabrielle just smiled at him serenely. "No. You shouldn't even be asking. I have grown as a warrior while studying Xena, who did fall in love with power. She thought me better than that. I have been sorely tempted at times, but I am beyond your petty offer of power over others. I am pretty sure I have been for a long while. Now if this concludes our usual recruitment talk, why don't we move on to more pleasant conversation? How have you been? And what are you up to?" She said the last part with the usual recrimination that tone that she reserved for him and him alone.  
  
"Why must I always be up to something? Oh, why bother. I am not up to something you irritating blonde. Even if I were do you think I haven't learned by now not to include you or her in my plans if I don't want them ruined," he said with sudden anger rising into his voice and expression.  
  
Gabrielle knew that people being unfazed by his power and antics were what irritated Ares the most so she just replied, "You'd think that. But you've proved many times that you're not that good at remembering. Maybe you're getting old."  
  
"Why I ought to.. Oh, why do I bother?" He exclaimed and his shape disappeared in an explosion of blue sparks.  
  
As if on cue Xena came rushing down the stairs.  
  
"Hi," Gabrielle said with a smile that she usually reserved for occasions when she had done some wicked.  
  
"I thought I felt something," Xena said and looked around.  
  
"Ares was here. I think he meant to say hi," Gabrielle said in her most indifferent tone. She was feeling a little playful after a moderately successful scouting expedition in the Roman quarter.  
  
"What did he want?" Xena said and looked around the room to ascertain that none of her senses picked out the God that liked to spy on her invisibly from time to time.  
  
"The usual, turn one or both of us to the dark side, so we can conquer the world for him," Gabrielle said and wondered where the God of War had put the barkeeper and the other guests. She felt bad just taking what she wanted from behind the bar even if she was very thirsty.  
  
"Oh, nothing else," Xena said and managed a smirk, while Gabrielle went behind the bar, poured herself some ale and left some money on the counter.  
  
"It was kind of a welcome home thing on his part I think. So how are things with Tara and her mysterious buyer?" Gabrielle took a big gulp from her cup.  
  
"The mysterious buyer is Beloch. He is." Suddenly there was a lot of noise of trumpets and drums outside. A mass of people began entering from the street led by the barkeeper himself. They were signing songs in honor of Aphrodite and general carousing seemed to erupt all around them as if appearing out of thin air.  
  
Xena gestured with her head for Gabrielle to follow her away from the seemingly instant bacchanalia, when suddenly a shower of pink and golden sparkles enveloped them. They found themselves on a mezzanine overlooking the barroom, amidst big fluffy pink pillows, wearing clothes reminiscent of their harem outfits and holding strange transparent objects filled with an even stranger looking milky green liquid topped with all sort of strange colored ornaments.  
  
"How are my favorite girls?" The voice sometimes described as ditzy, but whom Xena and Gabrielle instantly knew was.  
  
"Aphrodite," they both chorused. Xena sounded annoyed, while Gabrielle was just happy to see her godly friend.  
  
"I decided to move my party forward so that we could celebrate your homecoming together," the blonde goddess said and gave her little bard a massive hug, "I hope you like it sweet pea."  
  
"Thank you Aphrodite," Gabrielle replied, then suddenly her face flushed a little and she whispered, "Hands." She felt the unfamiliar hands remove themselves from her butt and the Goddess of Love fell back into her cushions with an unapologetic smile on her lips and naughty glimpse in her eyes.  
  
"Aphrodite what have you done with my clothes?" Xena nearly growled at the Goddess, who was clad exactly like Gabrielle in a very airy and skimpy white silk outfit. Gabrielle admired the view unapologetically.  
  
"Warrior babe, there was no need for either you or Gabby to wear a lot of dead cow or a small armory during my festival. No one dares to fight. It is against my rules," the Goddess replied.  
  
"Aphrodite. Where are my weapons?" Xena growled this time.  
  
"I left them in your rooms. There happy now, you nearly spoiled my coming home party. I have to make up for all those birthdays and stuff that I missed with you guys. Oh, by the way congratulations on coming back to life," Aphrodite said dismissively as if that was just a small annoyance out of the way.  
  
"So how have you been? You look positively glowing with health and might I say insight for lack of better words. At least when compared to the last time I saw you," Aphrodite said to Gabrielle with dazzling smile on her perfect lips.  
  
"The last time you saw me, I had just recovered from being male for a couple of days. A transformation that was entirely your fault by the way, I don't it is fair to judge me by how I looked back then. But thank you for asking and starting your festival early just for us, I. we appreciate it," Gabrielle relaxed back into a couple of cushions, while she with practiced ease accepted a cup of wine from a beautiful specimen of the male gender that had just appeared with refreshments for the three women.  
  
Xena leaned over, after giving the male attendant the evil eye and whispered, "We should tale about Beloch and the entire thing tomorrow. I don't think we'll be rid of Aphrodite tonight."  
  
"Yeah, I doubt that too," Gabrielle whispered back and went back to chatting with Aphrodite. After a while Xena got up and left the party. Gabrielle sent her a longing look, which Aphrodite noted but didn't comment. Instead she doubled her efforts to make the bard enjoy herself.  
  
"So sweet pea how was life as a general? Did you get to order a lot of people to your tent or wasn't it like that?" Aphrodite smiled as the slight hint of a blush reminded her that Gabrielle was a strange mix of gentle sensuality and self-confidence instead of raw sexuality and brutality. Her friend was a mix of both warrior and bard but most importantly she was passionate in all things.  
  
"It wasn't like that at all. It was always swinging between extremes of war and peace. One moment I was leading a life of contemplation, and then suddenly I was in the midst of yet another war. But in the end I found enough peace to think some things through and find what I was looking for," Gabrielle explained.  
  
"Xena," Aphrodite suggested.  
  
"No, me," Gabrielle admitted, "Xena was an unexpected but very welcome bonus."  
  
"Ah," Aphrodite said and for a moment the unusual expression of deep thought passed across the face of the Goddess of Love, and disappeared in another seemingly genuine smile.  
  
"Did Ares tell you about what happened to me?" Gabrielle asked.  
  
"Yeah, after Xena returned he began sending out scouts to find you both. We had a few out looking for you earlier before but never that far away. He came to gloat about your turning into a warrior, but I knew that there was so much more to you leaving than going to look for a fight," Aphrodite explained.  
  
Gabrielle felt like the night devolved into a seemingly endless progression of wine and fruit served by Aphrodite's usual virile male attendants and different bards and storytellers trying to make rousing renditions of Sappho's and other great poets' poetry. Finally as it was a couple of candlemarks past midnight she went upstairs to her room and fell into the bed wearing the outfit Aphrodite had conjured up for her.  
  
She awoke the sound of Xena's voice call for her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Gabrielle replied tiredly and fought to get up of the comfortable bed. Slowly she walked over and poured some of cold water into a bowl and began washing. Outside the sun had only just begun to redden the horizon.  
  
A few minutes later a refreshed Gabrielle clad in royal red amazon leathers, warrior boots and her twin swords walked out into the hallway to meet the equally leather clad warrior princess. "We could talk over breakfast," Xena replied sheepishly as she saw the slightly red eyes of her partner.  
  
"Lets," Gabrielle answered and thumped along towards the taproom, while her mind told her that not only did it seriously doubt that anyone was up at this ungodly hour to cook her breakfast, but also that no one should be up now to eat it.  
  
Xena put a plate of food in front of the still barely awake warrior bard and thumped down onto a seat across from her. "So what did you find out yesterday?" She asked as Gabrielle grabbed some of the bread.  
  
"No one in town is upset with the Roman rule. I asked around in both the commoners and roman quarters. Everyone seems to accept the rule of the Roman Empire. In fact more people were worried about the rumors that there were rebels out in the hills killing innocents in the name of their rebellion," Gabrielle explained and took a swill of her cup.  
  
"I heard exactly the opposite. The legionnaires are the ones slaughtering innocents and the rebels are trying to overthrow the Romans because of the massacres. Beloch is one of the leaders and when I talked to him about it he made it very clear that the Romans were the problem. I am sure he didn't lie to me," Xena said.  
  
"Well I also met an old friend of mine, which has a much better reputation, when it comes to massacres than Beloch," Gabrielle said. When Xena gave her a questioning look, she replied, "At least Plini wasn't the one responsible for slaughtering the remnants of a proud race just because he's will wasn't heeded."  
  
"You've got to be kidding me Gabrielle. Plini is a warrior of Rome. And according to your story he had a major hand in slaughtering rebelling Egyptians until you came along. We can't trust him," Xena said.  
  
"And we can trust Beloch. Why should we trust him instead, Xena?" Gabrielle asked, "Because you say so?"  
  
"No, I'm not saying we should trust either of them. Listen Gabrielle, I trust you, but there has been. Listen, this is pointless. Tara and Beloch are trading the weapons today. We're going with them. Maybe we can find out the truth if we can get closer to the rebels," Xena decided.  
  
Gabrielle looked at Xena, while irritation, anger and frustration warred with all her trust and love for the black haired warrior princess. "I'm going to go check on the horses," she said and rose.  
  
"Gabrielle is something wrong?" Xena asked her eyes revealing her confusion over Gabrielle's reaction.  
  
"No, nothing's wrong. I'll be back later," she replied and headed out of the taproom, confused why she was suddenly so irritated.  
  
"I'll be with Tara," Xena voice replied. Gabrielle winced at little as she detected the anger that always followed confusion in Xena.  
  
"Hi, old friend," Gabrielle said as she slipped into Ghost's booth. The warhorse pressed its wet nose against her chin and for a moment Gabrielle just enjoyed standing there with her horse. She felt the irritation from the tap room slowly abate. She began brushing Ghost, while telling it of her day yesterday. She knew the horse couldn't reply, but she always felt that it could understand and her experience in the valley of the dragon meant that she knew certain animals really could be rather exceptional.  
  
Before she could begin caring for Xena's horse Virgil burst into the stables. He stopped to catch his breath as much as survey the stables. He caught sight of the pair and half ran half stumbled over to stand at the mouth of Ghost's booth. "Gabrielle, I'm glad I found you," he said and gave her a bright smile.  
  
"Plini sends greetings. He received a message from one of his spies and he believes that a group of rebels will mount an attack on a village sometime before noon today," Virgil said.  
  
"We must stop them," Gabrielle said. She knew that she could go fetch Xena for help, but then they wouldn't get information on the rebels and they would probably need that later on. Besides she didn't really feel she needed Xena to stop some marauders from attacking a village.  
  
"You know where this attack is going to be," Gabrielle asked urgently.  
  
Virgil nodded.  
  
"Do you have a horse?" Gabrielle asked Virgil as she ran for the door. She needed to fetch some things like her saddle from her room.  
  
"Yeah," Virgil answered and followed the amazon to the stable door.  
  
"Get it, I'll be ready in a few moments," Gabrielle said as she headed across the courtyard heading for her room. Somewhere behind her Virgil sprinted of in search of his horse.  
  
Gabrielle thundered through the room, surprising Xena and Tara, who were about to leave the inn. Gabrielle stopped and turned, "Virgil just brought me important news. I need to go look at something. It can confirm some information I got yesterday. You can handle everything here without me, right?" She looked from one dark haired woman to another. Both nodded and Gabrielle dashed towards the stairs.  
  
"What was all that about?" Tara asked Xena.  
  
"I don't know, but I'm sure she'll tell us, when she's back," Xena replied, while staring after her partner.  
  
"By the way it's a beautiful tattoo, she has," Tara said as she saw Gabrielle's bare muscled back heading up the stairs.  
  
"She got it in Japan," Xena said and her expression turned stony remembering Akemi's betrayal and all its repercussions.  
  
Gabrielle quickly packed everything she needed for a day or two out in the woods and after a quick stopover in the inn's kitchen for supplies, she headed out to saddle her horse. She didn't to wait long after that before Virgil appeared on a spotted mare. "Lead the way," Gabrielle motioned for Virgil to ride in front of her. Soon they were headed out of the city of Apollonia at high speed.  
  
Tara and Xena slowly made their way through the festively decorated city. "They sure seem to love Aphrodite a lot in a town named for Apollo," Tara commented.  
  
"Aphrodite is easy to love.. If you're into ditzy blondes, that is," Xena answered.  
  
"I'm a little apprehensive selling the weapons to the rebels," Tara suddenly blurted.  
  
"Is it guilt over what they'll be used for?" Xena asked.  
  
"No I've sold weapons before. No, I'm just not getting the usual unhappy vibe from the townspeople that are the grounds for a revolution. And I don't like to supply simple warmongers. But maybe it is still contained out in the countryside. You gotta admire their guts though. Going up against the entire Roman Empire requires courage," Tara said.  
  
"Or enough anger," Xena added as the warehouse came into view.  
  
"It looks like Beloch isn't here yet," Tara suggested.  
  
Xena didn't listen. She was busying herself looking for Roman spies and tallying the number of badly hidden rebels amongst the early birds already out in the streets. Their numbers were larger than she expected. Beloch wasn't taking any chances and he was obviously honest enough to not just steal the weapons. Even when Tara couldn't admit to anyone she had brought them here. They walked up the warehouse that was guarded by Tara's mercenaries. The dark haired merchant motioned for Xena to follow her inside.  
  
Xena and Tara didn't have to await Beloch long. They stood in the shaded storeroom besides all the pots and ceramics concealing the weapons he wanted to buy as the dark skinned man walked inside with several younger men, who beneath their concealing robes clearly were trained and powerful warriors. All of them had a look of intense anger in their eyes. Beloch himself was carrying a heavy looking chest under one arm.  
  
"Please count your money," he said and put it down in front of Tara. The other merchant Tara's partner stepped out of the shadows and began counting the gold pieces inside, while Tara led the dark man over to one of the pots.  
  
"The big pots contain either three swords or five daggers, the small ones contain arrowheads and the plates all have an axe head inside," Tara casually explained.  
  
"Good, I thank you. My men will come around in the afternoon to move the pots to the places they're needed. But I'll need some of the weapons now," he gestured for one of the men to come forward. He had a deeply tanned look that reminded Xena of her own skin.  
  
"This is Thomas. He is one of my best warriors. He brought me important information. Please Thomas tell Xena what you told me a few moments ago," he said.  
  
"We captured a Roman spy yesterday. He was made to tell us, what he knew. A roman patrol is planning to attack a couple of farmsteads to teach us rebels a lesson. If we ride soon, we can make it to the farmsteads. I've already ordered enough men there to defend it, but while most of our warriors are ready and able to fight, but they lack the weapons to do so," he explained.  
  
"Good initiative," Xena commented to which Beloch nodded.  
  
"I wanted to ask you warrior princess. I know you haven't yet committed yourself to our rebellion and I am sure any promises from me of payment or allowing for the reformation of an amazon nation from the shattered remains won't sway you. But I ask if you're willing to go see what we are up against with your own eyes and when they've shown you the truth to help us against the Romans," Beloch said.  
  
"I will go get my horse," Xena replied immediately and headed for the door. In her thoughts she cursed the fact that she couldn't bring Gabrielle too. She was sure all her doubts would fade quicker if Gabrielle could be brought to see the Romans deeds herself. Unfortunately Gabrielle was off doing gods knows what and Xena had the sinking feeling that it was because of something she had said that she didn't know what Gabrielle was doing. There was something wrong between them, but she didn't feel that her tone with Gabrielle had changed since they had been split by her decision in Japan.  
  
Xena quickly put her saddle on Nike and headed back to meet with the rebels. She was going to make sure the Romans couldn't hurt another innocent. She would punish them for their transgressions. It could be the beginning of a payback that they had long had coming, this time it was even dealt to them in the name of something other than vengeance or hatred. Somewhere deep inside of her a raging fire began to burn brighter for the first time, since she driven a sword into the gut of Yodoshi. It was a fire that had been lit with the death of brother, stoked by her deeds of darkness, ringed with walls of control by her life with Gabrielle and nearly quelled by her tortures in the Japanese underworld. 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:  
The land outside Apollonia was filled with forested hills and valley cleared only in the few places where a road or river cut through the landscape. The weather was warm and pleasant, but Xena still had a stony expression as she rode slowly along the laden horses and mules carrying the weapons. They were on their way to a farmstead several candlemarks inland and they weren't making good time.  
  
Thomas, Beloch's second in command, led the small group through the familiar terrain. Xena was reminded of darker times, when she had led her army or the remainder of one through woods much like these. There had been a time, when she and Gabrielle had rescued yet another fair but weak king from a warlord. She couldn't even remember the name of the king, but her mind still recalled in stark details the wound Gabrielle had gotten from a stray arrow. Xena recalled how her then still strawberry blonde friend had been amazed by her care and in her own wry way commented, "if you're allowed to be stoic so am I," when she had asked why the bard had bitten back the pain instead of crying out. Even so young Gabrielle had been very brave. These lands and those closer to home carried many memories for her and Gabrielle both good and bad. Again Xena wondered where Gabrielle had gone off to.  
  
"We are here," Thomas declared and made a sweep with his hand indicating a small valley, where the road cut through two unfenced plots of land, where sheep were grazing. At the edge of a couple of large cliffs and a small stream three farmsteads stood nestled against each other. "The men should be waiting for us in the barns," he explained and motioned for his warriors to bring the heavily burdened draft horses with them as they went forward.  
  
Xena studied the valley as they rode towards the farmsteads they were supposed to defend. A Roman legionnaire unit would probably approach from the same direction they had come from and probably setup on the wide field before the farmsteads before even attacking. If they had a clever commander he would place someone on the opposite side of the farmsteads and have some roaming scouts, which depending on when the Romans intended to strike, would already be on their way or here already. Her mind was suddenly filled with thoughts and plans. While Xena didn't notice it herself, she was grinning now.  
  
Slowly the caravan of horses and men approached the seemingly abandoned farmsteads. However as they moved onto the sandy grounds separating the homes and barns, a group of men walked out of the largest barn with relieved grins on their faces. "Thomas, I am glad to see you," a huge man declared as he gave the caravan a cursory look-over, his eyes coming to rest on Xena.  
  
"I have brought the weapons we need. And Beloch has managed to find a very powerful ally. Xena the Warrior Princess has come to help us defeat the Roman scum," Thomas said and gestured towards Xena.  
  
Immediately the men began looking at her and the inevitable whispers of the stories about her began. Knowing what she could use the moment for, Xena launched herself of Nike and began explaining: "The Romans will come from the East just as we did. They will form up for the attack in the field. However if we are in plain view they'll just return at a later date with more men. We need to set up a trap for them as they enter the farmsteads. We must take them on in or near the houses where their battle formations and tactics won't be of any use to them." As she ticked of these points she was walking towards the draft horses carrying the weapons for the men.  
  
Thomas and the large man separated from the group and walked over to stand in front of her. "Will you lead us against the Romans, Warrior Princess?" Thomas asked.  
  
Xena nodded, while certain dark memories reminded her of the other times she had heard those words. She had led herself and her men down a darker path, had she changed since then? Could she resist the lure of power again? She ordered her mind to be calm even if she was without her moral compass, which was off doing something on her own. Her moral compass, which was just as much a warrior as she was, would approve of defending innocents from attack. She knew this to be right even deep into the core of her being and as long as she didn't start slaughtering innocents herself, it would be alright for her to lead an army or in this case just a small group of men in battle. She decided that she needed to stop having these doubts every time she was on her way into battle. All those years of seeking redemption, all that time spent thinking thoughts like these in the dark of night and the early hours of morning shouldn't be her destiny the rest of her life. She had foresworn these thoughts after her resurrection and now wasn't a good time to start again.  
  
"Thomas I need you to split the men into two groups. Put the best riders in one group. The rider group takes the horses with saddles into the barn and tries to keep their and the horses presence secret. They will ride out on my second whistle. The rest we will disperse in small groups into each house and hideout. They will attack on my first whistle. Make sure every one is properly armed. And find some place safe for the farmers and their families. I'll go make sure that any spies out there don't report our presence here," Xena said and as soon as the young man began following his orders, she returned to Nike's saddle and rode off into the forests surrounding the small valley.  
  
Ghost's hooves threw up tufts of grass as it thundered through the green landscape. Gabrielle sat in her red amazon leathers, swords on her back and a worried expression graced her face as she guided her horse down the road. Behind her Virgil's brown mare struggled to keep up with the stronger warhorse that led the way. "Left," Virgil yelled to overcome the sounds of hooves on the grassy road. The pair veered left down a smaller rough road.  
  
Gabrielle suddenly was able to discern the sounds of armored men marching rapidly somewhere in front of them. "Whoa," she said and tapped Ghost gently to slow them down. A large detachment of legionnaires appeared in front of them as they came down a hill. The Romans were obviously on a forced march heading in the same direction. "Plini isn't taking any chances," she remarked and gently led Ghost up on the slight grassy ground besides the road and began riding along the ranks of soldiers.  
  
Virgil and Gabrielle slowly passed the large group of Romans that gave them only a cursory glance as they passed along the lines of soldiers. Gabrielle noticed the officer leading the front of the column. He was running with his troops even while his scouts were riding in front of the group on their horses.  
  
They were parallel with the commander and Gabrielle tried to find an excuse to open conversation, but the officer spoke before she could open her mouth. "Are you the local warriors General Plini has sent to offer us tactical advice?" He asked in loud voice as if to make sure his soldiers heard him.  
  
"Yeah," Virgil answered and leaned down from his saddle to hand the commander a scroll, which the man read without stopping his fast paced marching. Gabrielle gave Virgil a wry look, as he smirked at her.  
  
"All right, I guess you could do me favor to begin with and go ahead to the village. My scouts have to stick close, the rebels have a penchant for lurking the forests with a drawn bow and I don't want any of my men dying to any kind of sniper if I can help it," the commander explained. Gabrielle nodded and indicated for Virgil to follow her as she ordered her tired horse into a speedier gait.  
  
Gabrielle winced at the sunlight, when they finally got out of the forest again. Before them next to a small lake lay a collection of homes and farms that seemed somewhere between a collection of farms and a village to her. The village had no walls or easily defensible positions as it was surrounded by grain fields. However it was due to its wide open fields also a decent distance from the forest and no army would be able to sneak up on them. It seemed that the small mill by the lake would be the best place to hide all the villagers. It was made of stone and was surrounded by houses and barns, which could be used by the legionnaires as a fallback position. Luckily the open fields would serve as an advantage for the Romans as their military tactics and the disciplined attacks of the legionnaires worked best in that terrain.  
  
"Virgil, would you help me round up the villagers? We need them to move in the mill for as long as were fighting. Of course any help they could give us would be appreciated," Gabrielle said.  
  
"Sure," he replied and as their horses slowly trotted into the village he stopped his horse, climbed down from his saddle and approached the first best villager, a woman carrying a jug of water from the lake. Gabrielle barely noticed as she began thinking of ways to make sure the coming battle went to their advantage.  
  
The Romans marched into a village all awhirl with activity. Women and children were all helping moving the contents of the mill over into one of the houses, while Virgil and the men were busy mixing some ground herbs and minerals together in leather pouches set with fuses. The commander looked around in confusion. "What are these people doing?" He asked out loud.  
  
Gabrielle walked up to the man wearing her most winsome smile. "I took the liberty and set the battle plans outlined by General Plini into motion, Commander," she explained. She hoped that if she saved his face in front of his soldiers the officer would be more amenable to her suggestions.  
  
The Roman looked at her for a moment with a concentrated expression then gave her a friendly nod, "I am sorry I was busy moving my troops out. General Plini didn't see fit to explain his plan to me. I am glad he did take the time to give you the benefit of his wisdom." He walked away from his truth, while motioning Gabrielle to walk along as if he was about to inspect the town.  
  
"The villagers should hide in the safest structure in town," Gabrielle explained as they slowly made their way away from his troops. She gesticulated towards the mill.  
  
"Plini hasn't really given me a complete explanation on, why you're here. Would you like to?" The Roman commander suggested as they got out of earshot of his troops.  
  
"My dear." Gabrielle paused and gave the Roman a questioning look.  
  
"My name is Pollio," he explained.  
  
"Pollio, Plini has sent me out here mainly because I am a highly trained warrior and a master of woodland warfare. These rebels keep disappearing into the forests and I am here to make sure that they don't get away this time. Now I have some experience with Roman tactics as well and therefore I have gotten the villagers to make smoke bombs. You should hide your men in the houses until the rebels have left the forest, then I will detonate the smoke bombs as they approach. You will then be able to form up your men, march out and meet them in battle, hopefully before they decide to run away. Maybe it would be a good idea to let a few villagers with makeshift weapons look like they are ready to defend the village. That should allay any of their suspicions," she said and looked to Pollio for approval.  
  
"I see that my General's faith in you isn't misplaced. I was worried that the rebels might not engage us in battle if they saw us awaiting them. We will do it your way," he replied and turned towards his troops. Gabrielle just ran a hand through her blonde hair, while trying to figure out a way to ensure that as few as possible on each side got needlessly wounded or killed.  
  
Xena caught her chakram with practiced ease and took a rag from one of her saddlebags to wipe the blood from its edge. On the other side of the clearing the legionnaire she had just killed stopped gasping. "That should be the last of the spies," she thought and turned Nike around for the ride towards the farmsteads.  
  
Thomas had obviously followed her instructions, she decided as she rode towards the quiet collection of farmstead, where everything seemed to be calm. As she dismounted in the area between the barns, the young man's head popped out of one of the barns waved for her to come over. Xena guided Nike over to the barn and led the horse inside, where all the riders were preparing for a fight. "I have everything set up. All weapons have been readied and distributed. We are ready for the Romans," Thomas said.  
  
"I caught some of their spies out in the woods. They should be here any minute now. I will be over on the opposite end of the farmsteads. We will let the Romans into the area between the buildings, we will attack and as soon as they have formed up to fight us, you will smash into them from behind. They will stand no chance after that," she explained in a tone confident and loud enough for all the men in the barn to hear. Then she turned around and walked over to one of the farmhouses looking to find a hiding place with a good view of both the open field and the ways into the area between the farmsteads.  
  
Xena glanced out of the cracks in the wooden shutter meant keep out the weather on rainy days. It gave her an adequate view of the surroundings and the area which she knew the Romans would approach from. She noticed a small plume of dust coming from the area where trees still shrouded the road from her view. Then suddenly a small squadron of legionnaires marched into the valley in their usual lockstep fashion. Her lips wore a feral smile as she realized she had a 2 to 1 advantage in numbers and that wasn't even counting the battle plan or the superior damascene weapons that the men carried. She was sure to win this battle.  
  
The Romans slowly walked down into the valley stopping some 50 yards from the farmsteads. A man wearing officer's plumes and to Xena an irritatingly arrogant sneer stepped forward and turned to address his men. "By order of the Commander this nest of rebellion must be leveled. Capture the inhabitants, they are to be sold as slaves for their treason, then burn their houses," he said, and turned to march his men towards the farmsteads. Behind her Xena heard one of the five men posted in the house mutter an angry curse as the Roman's words reached his ears. "Keep silent," Xena whispered and drew her sword. The men followed her example. The midday sun had turned the closed up house stifling hot.  
  
Sounds of iron shod sandals walking on the packed dirt outside echoed in the swelteringly hot common room, where Xena and the men waited in silence. Someone outside took hold of the door handle. Xena put two fingers in her mouth and whistled once. All around her the men rose and ran forward. They tore open the door revealing a surprised looking legionnaire. At all the other doors in the small collection of farmsteads the same scene was repeating itself as the Romans were suddenly introduced to the first part of Xena's plan.  
  
After seeing her men crowding at the door to get out Xena jumped feet first through a shuttered window and landed outside amongst shattered planks and sand. She was right behind the surprised Roman detachment meant to capture the defenseless farmers that were supposed to live in the house. She kicked a Roman in his back sending him to the ground, while her men gutted the legionnaire standing in the door and charged outside.  
  
The Roman desperately drew his sword and tried to fight Xena even though he lay on the ground. Xena parried his sword and kept him pinned to the ground, while she vaulted over him to land another massive kick into the back of another legionnaire about to join the battle with her men.  
  
"Fallback and form up," the Roman officer yelled to his shaken but disciplined troops. As many as could disengaged from battle and ran across the field to form a shield, sword and spear structure that would decimate the irregular fighting soldiers Xena had to her disposal.  
  
The rebels engaged and destroyed the few remaining Romans at the doors, but not before the main group could reform in the middle. Xena looked on the Romans maneuvering, while she still just parried every attack the young Roman solder she had kicked to the ground could make with his sword. Finally he got up from the ground and Xena relented for a second to grant him the chance to flee, but instead he believed to have the upper hand. The young man charged her with his sword, but Xena just proceeded to deflect his sword with a kick, spin around and swinging her sword around to sink it into his gut as he ran into it and Xena's back. Not feeling any glee Xena drew her sword out of his wet innards and turned to look at the once again advancing Romans. Her men were standing ready to fight in a half moon around their formation. Xena whistled once more, barely noticing the taste of blood from the Roman that was still on her fingers, while the sound echoed over the battle field.  
  
Hooves thundered as suddenly the barn doors were kicked open and a group as large as the one the Romans were already facing charged out into their unguarded rear. The horses were panicky and the riders weren't used to fighting from horseback, but just as many Romans were going to be trampled as were going to be outfought. Her face grim Xena grabbed her chakram and tossed it hard to disarm three Romans. She hoped that some would live to see the next day, but their chances weren't looking too good.  
  
A Roman charged Xena with his spear. She neatly sidestepped, while grabbing hold of the spear. The Roman looked at her in surprise. A few moments they struggled then the Roman suddenly let go. Xena flew back and landed on her butt holding the spear in her hands. The Roman ran off towards the forests. Xena noted his direction then turned back towards the battle now armed with a spear.  
  
The legionnaire saw his chance. The peasant in front of him, whom someone had given a weapon, was fighting without either finesse or skill. He parried another of his clumsy strikes and used a little skill to disarm the man, making the expensive looking weapon land somewhere behind the peasant. The man obviously desperate to survive charged forward in an attempt to bowl him over, probably to allow him to wrestle a Roman soldier in submission. He leaned a little sideways and tossed man over his hip. The man landed hard and lay there breathless. Eager to avenge his fallen comrades he turned around and lifted his sword for the final blow, when suddenly intense pain flooded his mind and all he saw before he blacked out was the tip of a Roman spear protruding from his guts.  
  
The last of Romans were subdued by the Rebels leaving Xena to face Thomas, who had a questioning look on his face. "What do we do with them? There are no authorities to give them over to, and we don't have any prisons," he asked.  
  
"What do you propose? Should we kill every single legionnaire we capture? If we do that we would be even greater monsters than they. We need to establish a power base in this region, set up prisons and fight back until the Romans agree to our demands. You could find some place in the forest to set up a makeshift base for a while. Keep them there," Xena suggested and ran towards the barn, where Nike was waiting.  
  
"Where are you going?" Thomas yelled after her.  
  
Xena rode out of the barn on Nike. "I am going to track that Roman that got away. These guys weren't dusty enough to have walked all the way from Apollonia. That means there is some kind of encampment not too far away and I plan to find it. You'd better disappear and find a safe place to keep the prisoners oh and the people who lived here too," Xena suggested and rode Nike out of town at high speed.  
  
Gabrielle hefted the heavy basket onto the wooden floor above her and took the last steps up the ladder. The hayloft of the barn was pleasantly airy as she made her way to the wide opening overlooking the fields and forest. Gabrielle looked the other way which allowed her a view of the other side of the village and the forests beyond. She hoped to have a good view of any attackers. "Here you are," Virgil said behind her as he carefully put down a bowl of burning coals down on the floor.  
  
"We have to be careful not to ignite the hay," Gabrielle reminded him and looked back at the horizon.  
  
"No worries, I just hope we'll be able to get enough of the smoke bombs out there before the legionnaires have to get in formation," Virgil remarked.  
  
Gabrielle didn't hear him. Virgil's voice and the smoke bombs at her feet had her mind whirling with memories of the past. She remembered times when she had done things like this with Joxer. Just now Virgil's voice had reminded her of her dead friend. He had lived a full life in the end, but she still missed him. Then her keen eyes caught movement in the trees. "Hide, someone is approaching from the east," she suggested and crouched behind a small pile of hay. Virgil mirrored her. Gabrielle slipped off her bow and quiver, keeping it handy for later.  
  
Below her somewhere a group of legionnaire disguised as villagers were trying to looking menacing with pitchforks and clubs. Gabrielle's eyes became small as she counted the rag tag band of men that ran down from the forest in small groups of three or four at a time. The attackers were barely outnumbering the villagers, but nowhere near the numbers of the legionnaires. She hoped that the numbers would make as many as possible run away or surrender. She turned to look at Virgil and nodded. Almost synchronously they reached forward and grabbed a smoke bomb, put its wick into the coal and rose to toss it. The bombs sailed out of the opening to land in the area just beyond the village. Soon the combination of the sputtering fire of the wick, the herbs and the minerals made two rust red plume of thick smoke rise from two spots and they were soon followed by several more.  
  
Gabrielle let Virgil continue throwing smoke bombs out of the barn, while she took up her bow and place the quiver on her hip. She drew an arrow back and stared out into the smoke with intense concentration waiting for her chance. Below in the village the Romans were already forming in units ready for attack.  
  
"This smoke won't save these pitiful Roman loving fools," he thought. He had joined the cause to avenge all the wrongs the Romans had done to the Greek and Thracians over the years. His brother had been friends with the Amazons and now they were gone as well and his brother's farm in the area had been given over to some Roman loving settler. The Romans had to be shown that they couldn't just push people around and the first step was to make those traitors, who followed them instead of their fellow Thracians in their struggle for freedom. He ran as hard as he could through the smoke. The billowing and bad smelling mass turned his sight red and his eyes stung for a few moments. Suddenly he passed into open air again and saw a mass of legionnaires with their spears leveled and shields glinting brightly in the hot sun marching towards the smoke. He opened his mouth to shut a warning and felt an intense pain in his throat. The rebel tumbled to the ground the fletching of an amazon arrow sticking out of his mouth.  
  
Gabrielle reached down for another arrow. "We're out of smoke bombs," Virgil said off to her side. She drew back the heavy cord, narrowed her eyes as she saw another early arrival coming through the smoke and released her arrow. The Romans were fully ready now, she realized.  
  
"Then lets go down to make sure no one slips around the Romans to attack the villagers," she suggested. Virgil nodded and jumped down the trapdoor leading to the ground below. Gabrielle followed soon after.  
  
She slipped off the quiver, while she ran towards the entrance and threw them onto the ground near Ghost, who was enjoying a rest at the water trough. She sprinted out to stand in the middle of the grounds near the mill and looked around. Suddenly a group of four rebels, who had probably run around the smoke instead of through it, came into the village from the south. They stopped and stared at Gabrielle and Virgil for a moment then as the confusion on their faces cleared they ran towards them. Gabrielle and Virgil both drew their weapons and dropped into their combat stances.  
  
The group split up, two going for each of them. Gabrielle waited for the sword armed and slightly smelly warriors to draw near. One of the two dark skinned men lunged forward. Gabrielle easily caught his blade with her left hand sword and pressed it sideways. Instead of meeting his partner's attack she dodged by kicking him in his unarmored kidney area sending him sprawling in pain. She ended up stepping forward and spinning now standing behind the other guy.  
  
He turned following his sword which he swung around in a broad right slash. Gabrielle caught with her right hand sword. However she hadn't expected her new sword to cut the man's blade in two, leaving him only with a stump of blade and a hilt. She shifted her left handed blade around to let the blade rest against the back of her forearm and swung it up as the man spun around to face her. The pommel hammered into his jaw making him stagger back.  
  
Sand gritted below heavy boots and something exploded into movement behind her. Gabrielle launched herself into a backward vault over the man she had sent to the ground earlier. She landed facing his back as he barely stopped before crashing into his friend. Gabrielle launched herself forward in a massive jump kick just as the guy began turning to face her. She felt her foot impact his head and let the impact carry her backwards as she bent backwards, pressed the pommels of her swords into the hard packed ground and flipped around to land in the exact spot she had launched the kick from. The man she had kicked fell to the ground like a puppet, whose strings had been cut, revealing the dizzy looking man standing behind him. He looked at her standing ready with both swords in hand, turned and ran all he could in the direction he had come.  
  
Gabrielle turned to see Virgil fighting hard against his last opponent, he had obviously been hit from the cuts apparent on his upper arm, but his opponent looked to be no better of. Slowly after sheathing her weapons she made her way over and just as their weapons locked in struggle again, she reached up and pinched a couple of nerves on each side of the mans neck, sending him sprawling to ground. Then she reached down and slammed a fist into his temples sending the man to dreamland. With a smile she turned towards Virgil, who looked a little irritated. "I had him. I didn't need your help," he sulked.  
  
"I didn't say you did, but there is never a reason to continue to fight if it could be resolved in a safer manor," she reminded him and turned around to let her eyes glide over the battle field that had so far stayed out of town. It looked as if the Romans were making short work of the rebels, just as Gabrielle knew they would.  
  
Pollio smiled at Gabrielle as his men began rounding up the last of the rebels that could still walk and wasn't headed for a shallow grave. A wagon was loaded with wounded rebels. "Thanks for the help, it has been an honor fighting with you," he said and saluted her, "I guess you'll be headed out to try and track these mongrels back to their base."  
  
"You guessed right, I was just waited for my horse to be properly rested. Virgil will go with you to report back to Plini on my behalf," Gabrielle said. Behind her Virgil suddenly made an angry face. Slowly the Romans made their way towards the road back to Apollonia.  
  
"Why should I go back with them? You need my help to find those rebels," he said with apparent anger.  
  
"Really, I think you must be mistaking me with some helpless girl again. Don't make mistakes Virgil I am not and I will never be your girl and I certainly don't need your help to track down a couple of rebels in the middle of a forest," Gabrielle nearly hissed at him, even if the anger came from a much deeper place.  
  
"Well then I will get out of your way," he growled back at her.  
  
Gabrielle watched him stalk toward his horse and felt the foolish anger drain out of her. "Virgil I didn't mean it like that. I am just a lot better at sneaking around when I am alone," she called out to him, but the excuse sounded as hollow as the emotions behind the words. Gabrielle knew there were several other deeper reasons for her sending Virgil away. He rode off without another word. Gabrielle turned around and looked at Ghost. "I am so stupid sometimes. I shouldn't let my frustration out on him like that even I often feel like a piece of meat on parade when he looks at me," she said as she mounted her warhorse and headed towards the forest, where she had last seen the rebels disappear. 


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Xena walked in front of Nike, slowly guiding her horse by the reins she was holding in her left hand. The wind was rustling the leaves of the tree above her, as her eyes studied the dirt. She looked for the traces of the legionnaire that had fled the battle. He would most likely run for their base of operations in the area. It was time to find out who was behind the Romans attacks on their subjects. Slowly her eyes found a footprint on the ground followed by a trampled tuft of grass. She had a track now it was just a matter of time.

Nike didn't make a noise as Xena carefully tied her to a tree. Had Argo been around she could have left her untied, but Nike was neither Argo nor Argo's daughter, who was probably still roaming these lands waiting for her to return from Japan. She reminded herself to go look for her as soon as they were settled in Amphipolis. Xena shook away the memories of her beloved traveling companions and slowly made her way into the damp and hot forest.

The roman she was following wasn't making it easy for her. He had tried to shake any trackers by striding through a small stream. A trick that would have worked on a lesser tracker, but not one as accomplished as the Warrior Princess, she quickly noted the disturbed mud coming from upriver and the fact that certain amounts of gravel on the streambed wasn't covered with water plants. She walked upriver her eyes carefully studying both sides of the stream looking for clues. Then suddenly on the opposite side her keen eyes saw the distinctive footprint of an iron shod sandal on the muddy bank. Smiling the dark haired woman set off in that direction following the now obvious trails of her quarry. A quarry that seemed to think that his water trick would throw off any pursuer and in his overconfidence had left a wide and easily followed trail for her.

Gabrielle quickly grew to respect the woodland abilities of the rebel she was following. In the beginning he had been running away and had left a wide trail for her to follow, but as he had regained his courage, he had apparently also remembered caution. He had stepped softly, broken no branches and left only disturbed leaves in his wake. Gabrielle carefully walked ahead of Ghost peering at the ground looking for clues.

His trail was leading her deeper into the wilderness as she had expected from a rebel. She expected their camp to be placed somewhere far off the beaten path, hidden well from the legions beating at the bushes looking for them. Gabrielle noticed a small piece of fabric caught in a bush. Carefully she approached it and examined it. She quirked a knowing smile and began looking around in the undergrowth. There was a subtle but noticeable path going off to the north. The same direction that piece of fabric indicated her target had gone. She shook her head and turned around looking up into the trees. Here and there sign of someone heavy using the branches as a path was apparent. The rebel had expected someone to follow him, had carefully prepared a false lead and then taken to the tree in the hope of loosing his tracker. Too bad for him she was the queen of the Amazons not just a Roman legionnaire. "Stay here please," Gabrielle told her horse and climbed into the trees.

The rebel had obviously had some training in traveling amongst the branches, but he had been in a hurry and so he had left a wide path of scraped bark for her to follow to what she hoped would be the rebel camp. Finally after only traversing a few trees heading west he had obviously jumped down to the ground again. Gabrielle followed suit only to be greeted by a weary looking Ghost. "I thought I told ya to stay back there," she said and took her horse's reins again. Ghost only snorted derisively as they set off to follow the still faint path of the rebel.

Xena was slightly puzzled as the tracks of the Roman lead her further away from both the recent battle and Apollonia than she had expected. She had caught up with the legionnaire more than a few candlemarks ago and now she followed him from afar. A neatly organized and well protected camp came into view as she slowly led Nike out of some bushes. Even from so far away she could easily see the vigilant guards greeting the lone survivor from their small battle.

Xena tied Nike to a tree inside the forest and slowly made her way towards the roman camp crawling through the brush and hiding behind the trees. She crawled into a tree. A noise alerted her and she froze. Below a pair of patrolling guards marched by. She waited until they had passed before she walked out a tree limb and launched herself through the air. The Warrior Princess landed with a barely audible thump between a tent and an empty enclosure for lifestock. She carefully sought what she believed would be the command tent. There had to be some information there that could help the rebels against the Romans.

Xena glanced around the corner of a large tent and saw what could only be the command tent. The soldier she had followed was standing outside giving a report to some Roman commander. She quickly cast a look around and dashed across the short expanse of open ground landing her up against the backside of the command tent. As fast as she could she grapped the fabric, while drawing a knife and cut herself an entrance.

The tent was warm inside and the ground hidden under carpets. Xena carefully walked around looking for anything she might use, while keeping an ear out for the commander to return to his tent and the interrogation she had planned for him. A small wooden table next to a large mass of pillows held a large number of scrolls and the like. Casually she ambled over and began glancing through what turned out to be messages from the commander's general. "Plini," she whispered in anger as she decoded the signature below the orders to attack the village she had just come from.

"Gabrielle is going to be upset by this... Worse, she is convinced he is a good guy and she can be stubborn about these things," Xena thought as her eyes fell on a map over Thrace complete with pencilled in notes about a systematic suppression of the villages. She had to concede that it was very well laid out. The rebels would have few chances of winning if the Romans were going to execute this plan. She did note that the plan seemed purposefully avoid getting close to Amphipolis. "He's very clever," she thought as she heard the fabric at the entrance russle.

The Roman commander only managed to take a step inside before she had a solid grasp of his collar and was able to throw him down. Before he could yell out an alarm to the guards outside, she routinely applied her Pinch. As he began gasping she stared him straight into his eyes calling forth the dangerous monster that always lurked just beneath her veneer of civility. "Listen Roman, you've less than 30 seconds left to live," she intoned, "unless you answer my questions."

"Yes, yes, anything," he rasped with teary eyes.

"Why is Plini oppressing the province?" She asked.

"The taxes, if he can increase the taxes without Rome knowing about it, he can finance his bid for a political position back home. He needs the unrest to apply for more soldiers and an increase in taxes to pay for them. But he will increase the taxes a bit beyond what Rome allows him to make money," the Roman desperately explained.

"And what about the rebels?" She asked.

"Farmers who have lost land and a few merchants nothing to be afraid off, they represent no more than sheep to the slaughter. According to my general what is a few thousand dead to a glorious return to Rome. Besides my General has explained to me that he has a naive dupe deep within the rebels already, some Amazon floozy with mush for brains," he gasped as a fat drop of blood ran from his nose.

Seething Xena undid the pinch and immediately follow up by hammering a palm into the man's temple putting him out cold. "He is using Gabrielle. She will very upset, when I tell her.... Unless I can do something about it without her finding out. If she finds out on her own, she'll be devastated... She would think she needed to do something to rectify it. Maybe even have to fight or kill another person she considers a friend. I'll spare her the grief," she thought. She whirled around and sought the hole, she had made, and half-ran towards it. She was already making plans for when she returned to Apollonia.

"He is good at this," Gabrielle commented to herself as she finally after an hour-long search found the rebel's trail again. She glanced around looking for his next footstep, when the faint smell of smoke and food cooking entered her nostrils. Still she carefully followed the faint path until just as the forest started to clear out the track changed from cautious to blatant, which instantly made her slow down. Taking care to look around she spotted a concealed camp hidden in midst of the forest. On the smell of cooking fires gave it away.

She carefully examined the outskirts of the camp keeping an eye out for any guards, while trying to determine a safe way into the rebel camp. It seemed like there weren't any at least she thought so until her carefully trained hearing picked up breathing up in a tree close by. She hid in a bush and carefully studied the trees in the direction she heard the sound from. As the wind moved the branches and leaves she became aware of an archer, probably only one of several, on lookout for people like her.

Gabrielle waited in her latest hiding place carefully studying the camp and its rather clever guard system. She was observing two guards out of the six she had spotted in particular. It looked like one of them was half sleeping in the heat and the other was looking in another direction. She decided it would probably be her best chance. Quickly she dashed through the bushes she had hid in and without anyone noticing she slipped into the camp.

She had arrived just in time for their dinner, Gabrielle realized as she had to dive into hiding behind a couple of barrels. "There are advantages to not being Xena-sized," she mused as she listened to the rebels gathering in a rather large tent, which she presumed served as a mess. A couple of guys were obviously also tasked with getting food to the guards, she realized as she glanced out of her hiding place and saw a few men head out towards them. One in particular was however going deeper into the camp with two portions of food and this was one she recognized. It was the one she had let get away back in the village. If he was bringing someone that someone was either injured or in command she guessed. Hoping for the latter she rose and followed him taking care to stay out of sight as best she could.

The rebel entered a tent, which from the trappings looked exactly like all the others except for the horse tied up next to it. Quickly she hid in between the tent and the horse hoping the big brown beast would behave, while she listened.

"Ah thank you," a surprisingly young male voice said.

"No problem, Aktos, if I could go for my food I might as well spare you the trip. So how was Apollonia?" the other guy asked.

"Festive, but then again those Roman loving bastards have a lot to party about don't they. They have all the good things and we have to make it for them. I tell you they won't be partying tomorrow after our assassin is done with their precious Roman General," the voice of Aktos answered.

"What are you talking about?" the other guy sounded confused.

"You can't tell anyone about this right, but when I was in town I heard that somehow the leaders got some kind of assassin lined up to kill that General... Plini I think he is called. It will be done tonight. By this time tomorrow their great leader will be dead and not too longer after that we will be ready to fall upon the city and slaughter the Roman to a man," Aktos explained.

"Heh, servers them right, but you should be more careful. If the leaders find out you're reading the messages in addition to delivering them they'd have you dangling from a tree before you can't say sorry," the other rebel reported.

Gabrielle sighed and looked around. If she was to use her knowledge of the camp's position for anything so would need to get out of it without anyone knowing, but that might take time. Time that Plini didn't have.

She looked around and spotted that the same guard that had been sleeping on duty was now eating his dinner with equal abandon as before. She decided helped by that and by the slow darkening of the day she would take the chance. Quickly she slipped under the tree the guard was sitting in. She picked up a small stone as she passed below his tree and threw low and far into the bushes away from the direction she was going. The guard glanced that way as the stone rustled up the leaves and she was away.

Gabrielle practically vaulted into Ghost's saddle. "Sorry girl, I can't promise you any rest until we're safely back in Apollonia, but we need to be fast as the wind," she explained as she spurred Ghost into a gallop. However as she watched the daylight wane, while the trees and grass below whirled by, the sense that for every second passing the risk to Plini's life was increasing. The Roman General was a good fighter, but any halfway good assassin would be able to get into the Roman compound and kill him in his sleep until security had improved considerably since her last visit.

Only a soft click disturbed the air in Plini's house as Xena landed in the inner courtyard. Two sleepy looking guards were standing guard outside what she surmised was the general's office. However as she stilled and listened for what was beyond the two, she heard two others speaking in Roman about what they were likely to get for dinner, when they got off duty. The guards were a distraction, meant to lure intruders into the wrong room. General Plini was either in another room or in another house all together. However as she thought about it, this was the safest house in the garrison and they weren't expecting her so he was probably still there.

Careful to stay out of sight she moved into the relative shadowy corridors of the Roman villa looking for some place a Roman General would choose to stay in if his office and bedroom were no longer secure. She passed a heavy door to what she presumed was the armory and smiled as she saw the flickering light of a candle under the heavy wooden door. She listened and heard the sound of man sleeping. Knowing that any military man of Plini's stature had long ago learned to sleep lightly she was painfully careful as she unsheated her sword in the absolute darkness of the nighttime corridor and equally carefully opened the door.

A middle aged and rather strapping Roman slept on a cot surrounded by what looked like his collection of appreciated throphies. Banners, weapons and armors of defeated enemies decked the room the metal objects glinting in the flickering candlelight. Xena froze for a second. Was she ready to commit cold-blooded murder, she asked herself. This man was obviously a warrior and had dealt honorably with Gabrielle twice before. Of course he had probably been deceiving her as part of a greater plan, but he hadn't been directly dishonorable yet. He was guilty of too many crimes however to just let go. In her mind she happened upon the fair solution and carefully shut the door.

Plini awoke as a hand slapped him hard across the face and a heavy weight landed on his chest. As quickly as he could, he jumped out of bed and while the images in his eyes were still blurry he became of a woman, definitely neither Gabrielle nor any of his servants if her armor was an indication. "Take the sword, fight me. It will be a fight to the death," the woman declared with a clear Thracian accent.

He looked at the sheated Roman sword he was holding in his hand and the slightly battered wide blade of the woman in front of him. His look rose to meet her eyes and he saw the intent to kill all over those ice-blue orbs. He drew his blade with a rasp, but as she started to move his mind began to clear and the realization of who he was about to fight sunk in.

"X..." He managed before she dashed forward and swung at him. He moved his blade up to parry, but he was unprepared for the massive strength behind the blow. His hand felt numb from the shock but he managed to keep his hold on his blade, while a seemingly detached part of his brain that usually served him well in battle only told him in a dry tone, that the blow she had just struck was probably nothing to her, while the closest thing he had to compare it to was that of a Germanic berserker.

He jumped over another wild attack and immediately rolled forward as he recalled Gabrielle reversing her blade upwards after an Egyptian had done the same in the battle after he had helped her against Lucius. He felt a cold wind against his back and his detached voice informed him that he had probably either lost the back of his pants or shirt. He also realized he had been yelling for his guards for a while now. In his hysteric confusion he had barely remembered. He felt a burning pain across his arm and a mild shock as he tumbled into the candlestick putting out the light.

But not even that accident gave him a moment of peace and only sheer luck and a reflection of the moonlight coming from the small overhead window across Xena's blade allowed him to avoid a beheading. He swung his blade up hoping to catch the warrior woman in the arm, but missed as she spun out of his reach. The door burst open. His guards had arrived. He had hope. Until the detached voice in his head informed him that Xena had backed away just enough to allow her to spin around and drive her sword across the throats of two of the four guards, making widows of their wives.

Still he had a chance and rushed forward, while Xena had her side to him. His attack was deftly parried, as was the spears of his men. It was as if this woman was able to see them as clear as day, while even he had to step back to avoid getting skewered by his own men.

He saw another of the figures in the doorway drop to the floor with a groan and he knew that this fight would soon come to a bloody end for him. He tried a wide slash to what he hoped was the warrior princess' unguarded right leg, but instead the leg disappeared, sword swung in his direction and his precious weapon clattered away into the darkness. A circular glinting object appeared in the warrior's left hand, the Chakram. The circle disappeared in a throw out of the door and he presumed into the last of his guards. The shape of Xena turned around and walked towards him. "Why are you doing this? I am not your enemy," he said, while his hands scrambled around in search of any kind of weapon, either his sword or one of his trophies.

His hands found the hilt of his sword, but just as he drew it up to parry whatever she was about to do, there was a sound of metal against metal.

Gabrielle couldn't see much, but she had already passed over the bodies of four legionnaires to get into what she presumed was Plini's current sleeping chamber. A tall long haired figure was barely outlined the slivers of moonlight coming in from overhead. She sensed a sword slashing towards a figure moving on the floor. That was probably Plini. Quickly she imposed one of her swords in between and heard the satisfying sound of metal against metal. The figure spun around with catlike grace. Whoever she was fighting knew his... no... her blind-fighting well. Gabrielle immediately had to parry another blow diving at her from the front. She swiped it aside, but she had to refrain from following up with a kick. Plini was right behind this giant of a woman.

Xena was bewildered. However had come to Plini's rescue was absurdly good. It was almost like fighting Ares, except without the magical trick. She had too little room to maneuver as she usually did and her opponent wasn't giving her a chance to move the fight out of the room. Not that she could allow herself to leave either. Plini could bring the entire garrison down on her if he escaped. She parried a blow, but before she could follow up with a blow a powerful kick hit her knee. This person was very good. In the midst of battle he had gotten her to move so much aside that Plini had been able to dash past them. She feinted a stab, but at the last moment vaulted over her enemy. However all her acrobatics were for nothing, no sooner had she landed she was hit by a set of boots from behind. Still unbalanced from the jump the powerful drop kick sent her hurling forward slamming into the stone wall.

Gabrielle felt her enemy pass overhead. Dropped forward onto the forward pointing hilts of her swords and kicked backwards with both feet. Her enemy flew into the wall across corridor and she fell rather ungracefully to the floor. Quickly she rolled and spun herself back to stand. Her enemy was amazingly resilient. Apparently she was already going after Plini. "Stupid Gabrielle, you worked so carefully to let Plini get away and now she can go after him again," she berated herself as she dashed after the sound of booted feet running.

Xena stopped and for the barest of moments tried to orient herself running wildly through the corridors of the villa. She needed to find Plini very quickly before her attacker from before caught up to her. She had the Chakram ready having picked it up on her way out, if she saw Plini, it would be the last thing he saw. Then suddenly she saw him run towards the main gate that would admit him to the central garrison square. She drew back the Chakram and threw it. It slammed off a statue and spun fast as lightning towards his back.

A pale moonlit arm flashed out and caught it.

In disbelief her eyes followed the arm up to the shoulder and face of the person she held most dear in life next to her daughter. And that face bore a look of equal disbelief and betrayal which was quickly turning into anger. "What in the name of all that is unholy and evil in this world and the next do you think you're doing," Gabrielle screamed across the courtyard.

She felt cold inside, she felt old and worn. "Killing that bastard," she heard her voice saying that tone she referred to as her Conqueror voice.

"Just like that. You're an assassin now then. And the fact that Plini was working with me to stop the rebels doesn't matter then," Gabrielle asked and walked towards her with the Chakram in her hand.

She felt her own anger growing inside. This little girl didn't once again know anything about the situation and was presuming that she could tell her what to do. "He was just using you. You're too trusting," she started to explain in a tone tolerated no interruptions.

But she was interrupted. "Oh, do shut up. It is our life together all over again. You've decided that he is evil without heeding what I have told you or was coming back to tell you. Well no more Warrior Princess. I have had enough with meekly going along with you if this is what you want to do. No more blindly trusting you or your opinion when you can't get around your prejudice. I have seen enough today to know that Plini and the Romans are right. The rebels need to be stopped," Gabrielle ranted.

"Really that is how you feel. Well you not only wrong, but just as naive and stupidly trusting as always then. I had hoped you had grown up a little," she fired back letting her feelings run free.

"Oh, yeah, I have grown up. I grew up after Higuchi where you didn't think or listen either. I did my last growing up on my own doing my own thing and I'll be damned if I am going back to being your sidekick. You're the one who has lost your way your spirit not me. I've progressed. You look like you regressed. You will listen to me here..." Gabrielle began, while she became aware that a large group of Romans were charging in from the courtyard. She didn't want to listen to Gabrielle's venting and even if she could have slaughtered the Romans, she had to escape from the attack that was really doing her harm. She pushed Gabrielle down, but missed the chance to get the Chakram as Gabrielle tucked it behind her and jumped up onto the roof and ran confused into the night.

Gabrielle felt the anger drain a little, leaving a massive feeling of bitterness behind. She felt so disappointed. Not only in Xena, but in how damaged their relationship was after this. The Roman legionnaires surrounded her, when Plini yelled, "not her you fools, she's the only reason I'm still alive. It's the other one the tall darkhaired one." The soldiers milled around and headed back outside, but she knew that no mere Roman legionnaire was going to catch up with Xena and strangely even when she was so angry with her that felt like a good thing. "I guess we have to talk," Plini said, she just nodded.

Xena dashed through the streets of Apollonia, she had to get herself, Tara and Beloch to safety before Gabrielle told Plini everything. She was angry at the blonde woman. How could she be so unreasonable? In the old days she would have listened. She would have followed her lead, now she was doubting her at the wrong moments and that was already proving to be dangerous. Now she had to flee from the Romans and probably her best friend as well at that almost felt worse than when she had believed Gabrielle had died.

Ares smiled as his power showed him Xena running off into the night with the rebels and Gabrielle explaining things to Plini. "Perfect, don't you think?" He asked with a grin and turned towards his accomplice.

"Totally, bro," Aphrodite replied with a wide adoring smile.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: 

"And I am telling you how to do this! Don't look at me like I am a fool. I have fought many battles. I personally led the crusade against the Centaurs. I know what I am saying. If we attack the legions as they cross into Thrace, we'll be able to wait out Plini and his soldiers while they try to keep their tenuous hold on the cities," Beloch nearly bellowed at Martok, a Macedonian General who had joined their cause with his entire army.

Martok opened his mouth to once again try to explain to Beloch that holding off the legions marching in from the other provinces and Greece proper was foolish with a fortified enemy at their backs. Something obvious to all but the purely tactically experienced Beloch. She slammed a knife into the table. It sat there vibrating as the tent fell silent. "You're both wrong," she said barely bothering to sound more than tired. They turned and looked at her expectantly.

It had been like this ever since she had fled Apollonia with Beloch and the other rebels just moments ahead of Roman troops sent out by Plini and his dupe Gabrielle. The rebels bickered until she stepped in and somehow managed to convince them that her plan was even better than hers. It was a pain but it kept them of each other's throats and focused on the war. But it also meant she had slowly but surely become the de-facto leader of the rebels not something she had originally planned. "Neither plan is an option. We can't throw our troops at Apollonia and the other cities with an army moving in on us from behind. Nor can we afford to turn and face them with risking having Plini's legions cutting us and our supply lines to pieces. Neither Plini nor Gabrielle will miss an opportunity like this. We have to counter them with brains not brawns. I have an idea but I'll have to study a few maps and have a few scouts look over some terrain up near the Macedonian border. I think I might be able to buy us several weeks to concentrate on Apollonia," she explained and of course as always after a few looks and whispered words they agreed. Now all she had to do was pull off the miracle she had just promised.

She felt like she had a headache coming as she stepped into her tent to rest and plan. "Mother," a beloved voice said in full of love and wariness.

She looked up to find Eve awaiting her with some food and those always reproachful eyes. "Eve," she said and smiled in spite of herself.

"Mother, please I know you don't want to talk about it but could you please clear something up for me. Why did I just hear that you've stopped requesting that they capture Gabrielle alive when they engage her in battle," she asked. Eve had joined her here a week ago coming to help with the wounded nothing else, but had been shocked to find her and Gabrielle on opposite sides of a rapidly growing rebellion against the Roman rule of Greece. She had taken every chance since then to question her about what had happened and her decisions. She had grown tired of it on the first day.

Still she had asked a pertinent question and the answer felt bitter in her mouth. "Because that request of mine was overruled by the council after it caused the death of no less than a company of our soldiers. Gabrielle was seen up near the border with only a few soldiers for protection. However only the scout who reported seeing her made it back in one piece and even worse when we sent more men up there they found only graves as well as weapons and armor sliced to pieces by those blades of hers or maybe my Chakram. I couldn't stop the others from declaring that they would have Gabrielle killed on sight if at all possible," she explained.

Eve looked bleak for a moment, shocked at the atrocity she had just described. It was nothing compared how she had been after hearing this. It had clicked perfectly with all the other descriptions and stories fluttering in from all corners. That Gabrielle had become Plini's subcommander. That she slaughtered the rebels with reckless abandon if they didn't surrender on the spot. That she was behind many of the brilliant strategies that the Romans showed when they ventured away from their fortified cities. She knew that most of that was hearsay and that she had once been likened almost to Zeus as if she could throw lightning bolts. But still the evidence was unfortunately mounting. She remembered the stories and accounts of Gabrielle back East and maybe more of those atrocities could be placed at Gabrielle's feet than she had at first believed.

"Gabrielle is not a killer," Eve said.

"No, you're right, however Eve since you saw her last she has become both a ruler and a renowned general. And good generals never mind renowned ones are more than willing to sacrifice soldiers on both sides to gain advantages in a later battle," she sighed. "I should just have realized earlier that I didn't understand Gabrielle like I used to. I can't figure her out right now..." She looked up at her daughter.

"Was there something else? Or could we eat and relax a bit please?" She asked.

Eve looked at her and nodded, "by the way Mother one of my friends is bringing a gift for you in a few days."

"A gift," she replied and quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he heard about your return and went out to find something you'd left on his fields. He is bringing up Argo the 2nd," Eve said and smiled warmly.

"You're kidding me," she said and could help smiling herself. It brought a rare feeling of joy to her heart thinking about the child of her dearly departed companion.

He stared over at his current commander. She, it was a woman, something previously unthinkable to him, was astounding to him. He heard about the Amazons although their war with them had been before his tour of duty, but to see one of them, especially if scuttlebutt was right one of their queens, in war was humbling. She rose before him and went to sleep after he did. She had already outfought him on the battlefield and outthought him, General Plini and more importantly their enemies several times already. She seemed able to manage hundreds of things in her head even insignificant details with barely a sigh or complaint ever marring her lips. He was not alone in being nearly in love with her and many tried constantly to catch her eye, but none seemed to measure up although she was always gracious about it. Gabrielle, the Battling Bard, they called her else where, but currently he was just proud to call her Commander.

"Commander, I have reports from several scouts and the builders guarantee that they can have the drum pits as well as the spikes ready before sunset tomorrow," he said as he stepped up towards her.

She looked up at him and gave him a friendly smile. "How are things Titus. How are the men?" she asked while cast quick glances over the scout reports he had just handed her.

"They're feeling good although they dislike the entire rationing and barrack situation. However morale is high, I must say aside for a healthy respect of our opponents steel my men are feeling quite fearless," he reported.

She looked at him then nodded, "the rationing can't be helped. I want our stores topped up at all times in case the rebels decide to be brave and attack us before our reinforcements come up... Say we should have a great deal of drink and a few entertainers holed up in town leftover from the Festival why don't we arrange for a few parties now while things are quiet."

"Parties, Gabrielle," he asked remembering to call her by name as she had requested so often.

"Yeah, we get their minds of the rationing. I then have less space taken up by alcohol and more space for water. And the entertainers should be glad to make a few dinars... Oh and the next day not too early mind you I want you to have the men fill up any amphora they emptied with water along with the regular water rotation," she said.

"Gabrielle I know it might be a stupid question, but why store water at all, we have a fresh water spring in the town," he asked.

She smiled then explained, "yes, but that spring is really just an offshoot of a river firmly inside the rebels territory so once they decide to they can poison that supply making it only good for putting out the fires."

"Ah... What fires," he commented.

"It is war... There will be fires," she said then glanced back at a map and moved a few markers according to the reports they had just received.

He nodded and headed off thinking that it was both really useful to fight with a veteran, but that he hoped to never become as veteran as the woman he had just left. Her eyes had seemed older and more pained than even those of his father before his death and he had been one of Caesar's one best troops.

"Gabrielle," the deep voice of Virgil shook her out of her thoughts about how this war would evolve. It was her hope that by thinking far ahead, making long term plans she would be able to trick Xena at least enough for one of her plans to allow her to capture the rebel leadership and slip Xena away before the Romans decided to behead her. She was already planning on having Virgil prepare a route out of the city, fast horses and a few food caches for their trip first North then East to hide amongst her Amazons, whom she intended to see soon anyway.

"Come on in," she replied. Virgil practically stormed in his face filled with worry and a hint of anger.

"What is wrong," she asked sensing from his expression that this wasn't urgent but more likely just moral scruples a good thing in a powerful man like Virgil, but a bad thing in the middle of a war.

"I just heard from a prisoner. They all believe you're some kind of monster. That you slaughter prisoners and enemies alike. That all we capture disappear forever into the cellars beneath the Roman compound. They're saying all kinds of things Gabrielle, but all agree that you're terrible and evil. What have you been doing?" He said with eyes filled with accusations. Accusations that gave her a stab of sorrow.

"Do you really think I am capable of something like that? Do you really?" She said feeling a bit of anger flaring at the fact that he believed these things.

"I don't know... I... Maybe just hearing you plan for war shocked me. There was a time when you dry heaved before battle. A time when you cried for every one you killed. A time when you wouldn't even have fought. Are you even that person any more?" he asked.

In the old days this would have gotten her to either grow angrier or repent her deeds, but these weren't the old days. She had her path clear before her. "I am and I always will be. What has changed is that I no longer have a conflict between the different part of my personality. I do this to protect the people in the cities from a future of turmoil and tyranny. None of the rebels have a stable future to offer for Thrace or Greece. None of them could protect our borders from new invaders or the Romans return and they would return. This way people can live on safe without oppression. You know it, but I have seen it. The Romans are conquerers, but they're also bringers of civilization, safety, stability and prosperity. I knew Greece before they came and I see it now. Things are not only better, they're much better and they'll keep growing better. And what I have done is spread rumours, sowing the seeds of fear so to speak. I am not an impressive person when you look at me. I don't have the aura of danger that Xena does. I am however a storyteller and I am slowly making the entire rebellion think I am the most dangerous person besides Xena in the entire known world... I haven't killed any prisoners. Far from it. In fact me and Plini have been shipping the prisoners out over the sea work of their sentence in another province to make it appear as if I have slaughtered them," she explained.

Virgil gave her an astounded look then muttered, "it is a dangerous trick."

"Yeah I know, they've sent one assassin already, but I have to try this. Besides it'll force them to have Xena deal with me and that is what I want," she explained.

"Gabrielle," another voice called out before opening the door to her room and walking in. Plini stood sweaty, dusty and without his cloak in her door.

"They attacked you and prevented you from reaching Amphipolis," she said.

"Yes, exactly as you warned me. Our scouts swore that the road was unguarded, but suddenly cavalry pounded into us and... from there it was just a mess... Xena was there too," he said.

"Next time you'll listen to me. Xena would never let her old home valley be unguarded hence it was clear that it was a trap," she said. Virgil nodded sagely.

"Ok... We go back to the original plan. Any word about the Macedonian legions?" Plini asked.

"Yup, they sent a encoded missive, however the messenger was a bit skittish so I am sure it has been seen by the rebels first," she said recalling the shifty eyes of the messenger when she had asked if the trip had been uneventful.

"It won't matter they won't be able to stop an entire legion from entering Greece with us at their backs," he said.

"My spies thinks they'll try to do both anyway," she replied.

"Fine let them," Plini agreed. She knew what he was thinking and she agreed. The amount of force required to defeat the legion was not available to Xena, while they were sitting safely and ready to march inside the cities throughout Thrace. Still there were many ways to solve a problem and she knew Xena would find one.

"Plini, go bathe and relax for a bit, I'll be over shortly I just need think a few things over," she said. The Roman General nodded and smiled before wandering out showing more of his hidden wounds than he had when entering. She should privately berate him about coming to tell her a fact she knew, when he was wounded.

After Plini had left Virgil turned and asked, "You have spies."

"Yeah," she said and smiled.

They looked at the floating image then it blurred to show Xena leaving her camp heading out to pull off another of her tricks working towards the defeat of her enemy.

"This is too precious," Ares said. "I don't know who to root for. Xena is more my girl all fire and passion, but Gabrielle has really become her heir. I am so unsure who I like better at this point the master or the student... If I could just..."

"Now bro, don't get carried away. I am in this because I want those two split up and my Gabrielle all to myself. I'll make her immortal so I can enjoy her forever. Whatever you want to do the warrior bitchess is up to you and frankly given your passions I am sure I don't want to know," Aphrodite said and gave him a cold look.

"Listen she is a warrior too. Are you sure you want her?" he asked looking a bit greedy in her eyes.

"Paws off, she is mine. Besides it is for their good. We'll keep them alive and well, they don't seem quite up for the task," she said.

"There is one complication left though," he said.

"Whatever... deal with it," she replied.

"Sure," he said and disappeared in a shower of sparks off to deal with his cronies before either side in the war discovered they had been manipulated into it. She smiled and snapped herself away as well while her brother was distracted.

She reappeared in Gabrielle's quarters, where her beautiful friend stood overlooking Apollonia from the window. "Hi, Aphrodite," she said without turning. It was clear that Xena's training or maybe the Asia trip had taught Gabrielle to recognize the presence of a god.

"Hi, sweatpea, listen I just wanted to stop by and have a little chat with you. I heard what happened between you and Xena. I wanted to offer my shoulder," she said.

Gabrielle turned around with tears in her eyes and looked at her. Studying her for sincerity. "It hurts so much," she cried and fell into her arms. She held Gabrielle there for awhile until she felt she had helped enough and began her next step. Slowly she slid her hands down around Gabrielle's waist until her palms rested comfortably on the girl's buttocks.

"Hands," Gabrielle suddenly choked out. With a smile she broke the hug and gave her best impression of innocence at Gabrielle's stare.

"Ok, too early I understand..." she said while hoping Gabrielle's mind would soon overcome the shock of her arrival and the thoughts of Xena rummaging around in there.

"Wait a minute, you heard from who?" Gabrielle asked.

Usually she would've invoked her divinity or a priest but instead she said, "why Ares of course... Well I'd better go, me and my bro is having dinner tonight." She teleported herself away.

Gabrielle looked at the pink and golden sparks as they drifted to the ground and smiled. Before turning and looking out the window. On the outside she tried to look as if she had nothing else on her mind but inside her mind thoughts were racing. "Aphrodite is up to something... No rather Ares is up to something. First they both show up. I thought nothing of it, but... then war and the Romans... the Greeks at each others throats. Me and Xena suddenly meeting. I heard about an assassin, she went to kill Plini. Uncharacteristic unless she was tricked. She hasn't gone back to her old ways... too little general mayhem and bloodshed for that. No, we are being manipulated by him... or both... again," she thought.

"I'll never know without facing Xena," she whispered and looked out over the city again this time however with hope in her eyes.

Barely a week passed before Plini sought her out after she had returned from quelling a group of rebels to the North just at the border. He ran up to her horse with a grave expression on his face. "What happened?" she asked.

"It's the reinforcements coming out of Macedonia. Xena somehow caused them to be captured in a valley up there both the entrance and exit has been caved in and her people are holding the high ground. They might be weeks if not longer in getting here. And worse the rest of the rebels know... They're marching on us as we speak. The first will arrive within a day or two," he said.


	9. Chapter 8 And Epilogue

Chapter 8: 

"Good then it is all coming together as I predicted. Xena doesn't understand my plan yet. This is why we can trick her. I just hope she hasn't hidden too much from me or we'd have very little chance of our plan working. Has the real reinforcements arrived yet?" Gabrielle asked.

"Yes, we've covered their arrival by clearing all the quarters of the city near the walls and sending away as many civilians to safety as we can spare. Their ships arrived from all around the Aegean while you were away," Plini said. He looked gratified by their seeming success.

"It's too early to celebrate. We're up against one of the most creative and potentially most ruthless generals in all of Thrace, neither Xena or Beloch are people to be underestimated," she said.

"I thank you Gabrielle. Thanks to your plans we will be able to quell this rebellion and capture its leaders," Plini said.

Gabrielle winced and said, "As long as you remember Xena is not to be harmed or imprisoned. When it's over, she is freed into my custody. We'll depart this land and won't be back for a long while."

"As we agreed," Plini said his eyes showing that he could guess what she'd do if he didn't hold to his word. It was a secret between the two of them though.

"Gabrielle," Virgil called out and came running over. It seemed the young man had really gotten into the spirit of things and was writing some very stirring poetry about the nature of being a Roman. Gabrielle had been almost envious of the quality of his writing. Virgil swore however it would be ages before it was done. He saw his verse as just the beginning of a long epic. Gabrielle understood that such artistic vision could only be allowed to flourish without the interference of others.

"Virgil?" she asked.

"Eve somehow managed to get a message through to us. She wants to meet with you tomorrow night outside the city," he explained.

"Ignore it, that's another trick. Eve knows that it would be too risky for me at this juncture. That is probably not even a message from her," Gabrielle said but had to admit to herself she knew too little of Eve's handwriting to be sure if the note Virgil held out was from her or not.

"But it could be a chance for you to get in touch with Xena," Virgil said.

Gabrielle knew that. She even considered it for a moment. But it was no longer just about that. "I understand that, but it's not safe or a good idea at this point. I need to be here when the Rebel army arrives or our troops would grow demoralized. The disadvantage of becoming the figurehead of an army is that they need you to be there and visible to believe in your plans. My armies in Chin had the same problem. When it was discovered I was not with them, they fought badly and sometimes even disobeyed their officers. I can't go," she said and headed for the stables Ghost needed her care, before she could rest herself.

A day and a half later as the dawn was burning the light mists of the grass that surrounded Apollonia Gabrielle stood next to Plini on the battlements near the primary gate. They could see the enemy now. Their scouts were encamped out of the reach of their strongest bows and the army itself would not be far behind just out of the range of any catapults. They had cleared all the area near the city of anything except the tall dry grass, which Gabrielle had grimly decided to leave in place for the first charge.

They didn't have to wait long. The mists were gone when the first drums signaled the readiness of their enemy. Gabrielle was not afraid. Even if visibly outnumbered they had massive reserves and could rotate new troops into place on the walls for a long while. Their stores were massive and their walls and gates solid. Meanwhile Xena was under time pressure. She had to conquer Apollonia in time to turn around her troops and redeploy them near the Western borders to face the next wave of Roman legions. Plini didn't even have to win, he could wait it all out behind these walls. But Gabrielle had gotten him to agree to a different plan.

A horn blared and with a roar several groups of infantry carrying ladders charged across the fields towards the stake strewn dirt at the foot of their wall. "Fire only when you have a good shot. Footmen not archers are responsible for keeping my wall clear. Fire when ready," Gabrielle ordered. Several arrows whizzed past her just as she finished.

She saw several of the Rebels stop in small groups and fire back. Others of the rebels were discovering the small holes and spike filled traps her engineers had dug into random positions in the grass forcing their charges to slow down. Plini had considered forming up the legions inside and marching on the rebels, but she had managed to convince him that Xena would not give him the time to form up and they could not march through the gates in formation. Besides toe to toe battles were for later when the Rebels were worn and the Legionnaires were fresh.

As the first ladders slammed against the sides of the wall, she drew her swords and turned to look towards Plini at the foot of the wall. He was stood ready at the catapults. She shook her head and turned to kick a enemy warrior off the wall.

Gabrielle got caught up in the battle. She ducked an arrow, flung the Chakram along the wall, but kept in close in case Xena was looking for it and gave two rebels serious stomach wounds, before what they had been waiting for came. The rebels were sending in their cavalry to quickly reinforced some perceived weak spot in their defense.

Gabrielle hammered a rebel in the face with the pommel of her left sword, ducked underneath a mace aimed at her head, elbowed its wielder in his guts and yelled: "Fire!"

Plini nodded and gave the signal. Quickly their catapults fired burning barrels of naphta and oil over the wall into the tall dry grass. All along the wall the same action was repeated. Soon after all Gabrielle could hear except the moans of wounded soldiers was the roar of the grasslands around the city burning along with a great deal of the Rebels cavalry at least she feared that was what had happened. She apologized to their dead spirits and once again weighed her involvement and the rebel's cause against what she saw as the Greater Good. Quickly she ordered her troops to clear their walls and take the ladders inside over the wall.

Xena wasn't sure if it was the ashes of their troops, the arid smoke in the hot mid morning day or the fact that she had just seen and heard her beloved bard obliterate their first attack. Eve stood at her side looking as shell shocked as she felt. Gabrielle had turned into a strategist and a warrior. Xena knew that she had thought about those words, but it was clear to her now that she had not believed them as deeply as she should have. She was beginning to think that her friend had become her equal in martial prowess.

"I think I never understood until now. If I had been Livia today, I'd be jealous. Now I am not sure if I should cheer or weep. I just wish she had come to the meeting last night," Eve said.

"She knew it was a trap," Xena said.

"I never wanted to trap her. Still I'm glad she never saw what betrayal Beloch tried to force on me," Eve agreed.

"He knows that Gabrielle has made herself into the front figure of that army. At first I didn't understand all those stories, but I get it now. It's her way of making sure she's obeyed by her troops and feared by ours," she explained.

"It's dangerous for her. No one of the troops will attempt to take her alive," Eve said sounding worried.

"It's gone beyond that now. I know how this fear works. Her enemies will make mistakes because of it. She's not betting on it though. I think she is using the fear to make sure it's me who has to face her," Xena said.

"You but why you? You're not... Are you going to fight her mother?" Eve asked.

Xena herself dreaded the answer, but it was clear she had to. They were both committed now. Gabrielle's stubborn and in her eyes stupid willingness to trust these Roman butchers, who carried on Caesar's legacy, had led them to this situation. Now they had to see it through. Xena had no idea if she could get herself to harm Gabrielle though. "I don't know," she whispered.

"So it will be a siege then," Eve said.

"Yes, and Gabrielle knows how to deal with those. I have to think of something," Xena said. Eve said nothing but then again Xena wasn't sure her daughter really approved of the rebels or this war much.

Several days passed as the siege went on. The attacks had been many and varied. A few days ago they had learned that their well had been poisoned as Gabrielle had feared. The day before that the rebels had been revealed in their attempt to dig under the wall. Plini and Gabrielle had answered back by digging their own tunnel from the well to the rebels. The rebels had been left swimming in the poisoned water. Since then the rebels had focused on bombardment and firing their weaponry at their primary gate. It wasn't holding up well against the continual attacks.

"The Gate will be crushed as soon as they take a battering ram to it," Plini said as he joined her in the tall building they were using as their observation post.

"They have no way of sneaking in an attack on us. I think it is time for our little surprise. Can you get everyone ready?" Gabrielle asked.

"I have," Plini said. Gabrielle and Plini grasped each other by their forearms.

"It's time then right. Good luck to you my friend, I guess you'll need it," Plini said. Gabrielle grimly nodded.

Xena looked out over the assembled troops. It was their final attack otherwise they have to march North in the face of the oncoming Roman legions that would soon fall on them from outside of Thrace. She had gotten every one ready. Their battering rams were ready. The infantry had been given their orders. All that was left was for her to call out the signal to attack. She rode up next to Beloch.

"If this fails we have lost," he said.

"Then we will not fail," she replied. Xena turned to sit upright on Argo and yelled at the top of her lungs. "Victory over the Romans!" she screamed drew her sword and charged out with all the cavalry. It was their task to cover the approach of the battering rams. This time the archers wouldn't be that big a problem. The Romans had been running out of arrows for days and albeit that knowledge had been bought with blood it was important none the less. She rode along the wall wishing she had gotten her Chakram back so she could have done something to all those Romans on the walls. However the regular black rain from their archers, who had conserved their arrows were already doing their part along with their catapults, which had been trained on the top of the battlements and which were firing gravel and arrowheads by the bucket load on top of the troops there.

The battlements near the gate they were targeting were almost emptied out and the rumors of lack of Roman troops left at Apollonia grew more and more plausible by the minute. She turned Argo around and headed back towards the infantry who already hammering the battering ram through the beleaguered wooden gate. She wanted to get inside and face what she knew had to come. The battle against Gabrielle would be today. Xena launched herself off her horse and landed with the troops as they charged inside.

A huge area previously filled with houses had been cleared inside the gate probably for the catapults that had been such a problem for the rebel infantry until they had run out of ammo a few days back. The Roman resistance was weak. Legionnaires clearly both tired and unshaved were fighting while they made a desperate retreat towards the Roman compound near the city center. Xena wondered about the lack of preparations she was seeing inside. The Romans had kept them out for days yet it seemed they were completely caving in now. Beloch joined her side. "It seems their defense the first day was their strongest move. They were hoping to hold out until the reinforcements arrived. But your delay of them made our victory assured," he declared. Then as they were making good of their progress towards the Roman compound there was a commotion behind them. Xena focused her senses and realized the depth of Gabrielle's trickery. All around the immediate area from the compound to the gate just beyond immediate sight there were troops. A lot more than there had even been when Apollonia had been at its supposed full strength. Suddenly a rain of red hot metal spikes obliterated a squad no more than a few feet in front of her. The catapults hadn't run out of ammunition they had just refrained from firing. The city was a trap. Gabrielle had sacrificed just enough to make them believe and take the bait. "Clever girl," Xena whispered.

"Xena!" Gabrielle's voice reached her even over the battlefield. Roman legions formed up with their shield walls in place walked out of alleys surrounding all the army that had gotten inside. From the buildings Roman arrows were hammering down on the bulk of the rebel army. Xena knew it then. They had lost.

"Die butcher," she heard Beloch yell and charge off to the side. She didn't follow him though. Her eyes were locked with the sad eyes of Gabrielle looking back at her. Her friend had betrayed all of Thrace and now there would be no freedom from Roman tyranny for her people. Gabrielle threw the Chakram at her. She tracked it as it split and prepared to do something that she believed Gabrielle wouldn't expect.

Gabrielle felt no joy as her plan unfolded around her and the slowly but surely the Rebel army was being destroyed. She had called out Xena. Now it was time to fight her. She just hoped she could convince her girlfriend of what she hoped was the truth. She threw the Chakram at Xena, hoping to drive her to the left and towards the building she hoped they could fight in without the entire army looking on.

She didn't watch Xena pick the two halves of the Chakram out of the air instead she ran and listened. Soon after the hum of the Chakram echoed through the air. Gabrielle ducked and rolled. The Chakram ricocheted off a stone wall and headed back towards Xena. Gabrielle jumped high and kicked down the shutters of the 1st story window she had aimed for. She landed inside as the pieces of the shutters rain to the floor and quickly ran into the two story main hall. She jumped over the rails and landed on the former tap room's floor. She turned while drawing her swords.

With her characteristic yell Xena practically flew into the room. The beautiful raven haired woman threw the Chakram at her again. Probably to disarm her by destroying her swords, but Gabrielle trusted the weapons given to her by the Tigers and held them up in a cross block. With a bang and a rain of sparks the Chakram hit the blades and bounced back. "Xena, we have to talk," Gabrielle yelled out.

"About what? You've made your point and personality clear to me. You'd rather stand with the Romans even with all they have done," Xena yelled back and jumped down with her sword in one hand and the Chakram in another.

Before Gabrielle could say more they were locked in battle again. Xena swung the Chakram at her guts. Gabrielle vaulted backwards. She landed on her feet just in time to parry a sword blow. She decided to try a counterattack. Gabrielle parried another sword blow and barely managed to hold Xena's sword locked with her own pressing it out. But before she could kick or hit Xena's chest, her taller friend stepped toward threatening to reach around her and capture her by holding the Chakram to her throat.

Gabrielle slid her sword down and clear. She winced as she felt it cut flesh as she tumbled out under Xena's right arm. But before she could turn back around Xena kicked her in the back sending her across the room into a pile of wooden chairs.

"Uh," Gabrielle said before she quickly rolled and jumped back to her feet finding Xena ready to face her. She could see the blood running down her friend's right arm. This wasn't how she had planned things, but she didn't have time to talk, Xena was acting too fast for her to have breath for it. There was only one other option left to her.

She stepped forward swinging her swords through a complex series of maneuvers meant to drive a clever enemy back or a careless one to get cut. Xena was neither. She was a genius. With one step and a bold move, Xena blocked both her swords with the Chakram. It had only been meant to stop one, but Gabrielle had changed her pattern slightly.

The broad sword with its wide double edge headed up from below. Gabrielle's move took it exactly where she wanted it. The pain was not unfamiliar. It sank into her side stopping at her rib as her friend's swing stopped in realization. Gabrielle let herself drop in pain. Both her swords dropped next to her. The wound was possibly mortal if it had hit her stomach. But she realized she didn't really care if it was. As long as they both saw the truth and were reconciled.

"Gabrielle, oh my Gabrielle," Xena yelled and dropped at her side. Gabrielle grunted and hammered two precise blows at Xena's neck. It wasn't the pinch but rather it would stun her friend long enough for her to speak.

"Listen, Xena, I love you, I've never stopped. But you have to understand. Both Ares and Aphrodite have been here many times during our battle. And Aphrodite said something, something that made it clear to me. You and I were being manipulated to believe different things just as the Romans and Beloch were. I am willing to bet that neither the Rebel nor the Roman atrocities happened by their hands but were much more likely Ares' doing. He wants wars and a giant Roman Empire wouldn't exactly do that for him. Sooner or later they'd stop expanding. I figured it out too late and there was no way I could get close enough to you to speak in time to stop all this. Besides this war might have been the last Greece and Thrace sees for a long long time, because now the rebellious elements have been set far back," Gabrielle explained then fell unconscious with a sigh.

Xena blinked when the effects of Gabrielle's attack disappeared. She immediately set about checking Gabrielle's wounds. It was at least possible what Gabrielle had said. "Ares, show yourself. Please Ares I need to talk to you," she yelled out.

"You called," Ares said and appeared with his usual smile nowhere to be seen. He looked down at Gabrielle with equal concern and irritation.

"I think I'll never get used to her ruining my plans," he said.

"You did this. Why? I'd never return to you. Time and again I have told you this," Xena said.

"I never said I wanted you did I? But as a matter of fact this time it wasn't just my plan," Ares said and looked to his left. Aphrodite appeared looking a little upset.

"It did go a lot further than we had planned. Couldn't you just have had a small fight back that night when you tried to kill that Roman stud? Then my bro wouldn't have done his entire bring the region to war bit and there would have been a lot less killing. I just wanted you two to be girlfriends again like for real," Aphrodite said while crouching down next to them. She held her hand over Gabrielle's wound and a pink glow shone while it closed.

"For real? What are you talking about?" Xena said.

"You both needed a wake-up call. You needed to see that Gabrielle was someone you should treat as an equal, which you don't always do and Gabrielle needed to realize that she is more dangerous than she herself believes. You both have... right?" Aphrodite said.

Xena couldn't help smiling as Gabrielle came to. "I figured you two were behind this. Sorry if I escalated things a bit too far," Gabrielle whispered.

"I'm sorry for not listening... But how do we stop all of this before it all goes too far," Xena said.

"You won't. Gabrielle's plan has worked, the rebels are surrendering as we speak, but I am sure my sis can move the Romans to not execute all of them, and I'm sure we can get them to set up a fairer system too. At least if you can get your daughter to put in a good word. Most Romans are Elijans these days," Ares said the last bit with clear distaste in his mouth.

"Done," Xena said and the gods disappeared. Xena looked down at Gabrielle and said, "I think you and I need that long talk we've been putting off for a while."

"Yeah, what do you think about waiting until we got this idiotic war to stop?" Gabrielle suggested.

"Done," Xena agreed and they both together got up and left the tap room.

Epilogue: 

The battles had all ended and the city folk were beginning to return. The rebels had been captured and disarmed. The legionnaires had been tough but fair, still it would continue to be a hard time for Thrace for a while. Many a Thracian home had lost sons or husbands to the battle. Still with both Elijans and Aphrodite's priests preaching in force and with the gestures of peace made by Gabrielle's friend Plini there was hope. It had cost her something though. Xena had been exiled from Thrace at least for several years. She had hoped to come back and do like her daughter, just live on her mother's land in peace. But as she walked up to Gabrielle, sitting as she was looking out over the sunlit sea seemingly at peace, she realized she had forgotten that a place was just a place it was the people that made a home. And her home was the blond woman sitting there relaxing. Even after all the changes that had for a while made her forget that truth there it was. That blue clad woman with her mystical swords, her papers and inks was the center of her being just like her two children.

"What are you doing?" Xena asked as she walked up next to Gabrielle seeing that her girlfriend was writing on familiar looking scrolls.

"I decided I needed to write all of this down somewhere. I hear my scrolls are well liked in certain places besides I couldn't just let it end with you dying, people would think me a cruel storyteller," Gabrielle explained.

"Life is hard, but if you want to do then you should," Xena said. Gabrielle smiled impishly.

"Let's explore that idea," Gabrielle suggested arching an eyebrow.

"Not now, besides I just got my marching papers. We have to go, before Plini's officers force him to arrest me," Xena said.

"Oh, well... Any idea where we should go?" Gabrielle asked.

"I wanted to visit Eve, but that's not an option right now, and she is planning going to Rome with Virgil soon. And one of us are really the favorite person there right now either," Xena said and gave her friend an expectant look.

"Well I have a suggestion," Gabrielle said and Xena just knew her friend would have them trekking through the eastern lands in the snow heading for the amazon lands soon. "Plini has given me a writ and the map of his holdings in Iberia. He seemed to think I needed a vacation on a wine plantation," Gabrielle said and got up while stuffing her scrolls and ink in a satchel.

"Good idea that," Xena agreed.

"Well not all Romans are murderous bastards. Besides I was thinking Iberia is a good stopover before we head far South," Gabrielle suggested.

"What's far south?" Xena asked a bit bewildered as they trotted down the sandy path towards Argo and Ghost.

"I was wondering how it'd be to go to place neither of us have ever been. What do you think? Should we go see what's beyond the Sea of Sand?" Gabrielle suggested. And so they rode off together standing together in light of their shared paths.


End file.
